#oh bud. my friend we are only halfway through the story lol

[eyndr-stories]

Chester and the Jesters (FNAF SB fanfic) C5 - A friendly game of minigolf

In Summary:

The new tech sure does seem a little strange. Chester (at least, that's what their name tag says) doesn't seem as concerned as they should be about the high turnover rate here at Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza-Plex, or the numerous rumors about what happens to people who take the night shift. And to make matters worse, there seems to be some kind of criminal on the loose! The cops say they think the criminal is hiding out in the woods somewhere near the pizza-plex. Stress is high at the plex these days, but Chester is stoic as ever. Say, come to think of it, no one can seem to remember where Chester's application went or who they interviewed with. Their employee file is misplaced or missing just like everything else in this place. But the new tech does a good job completing their tasks, and has their own badge and everything, so of course they must belong here. It's not like someone would sneak into the plex and go this far out of their way to impersonate a low level technician. Right??

Things To Know (always read responsibly!):

Biggest warnings are for blood, death, knives, murder, the police, violence, also the OC is at one point hit by lightning. All fun stuff

About 70,000 words in total, 9 chapters, so roughly like. 7,500 words per chapter

This is an OC story, not a reader insert or a self insert! But if you want to imagine otherwise be my guest lol

Angst, fluff

OC x Sun & Moon, there's romance but zero spice

Occasional swearing

Heavy focus on Sun and Moon but most of the rest of the gang is there too :)

Afton doesn't exist, sorry peepaw, Vanessa is here but she's very chill. She's a kickass gamer girl lmao

Moon does an attempted murder but its fine. He's just a lil guy ok

OC uses they/them and also sign language most of the time

Impersonation, lying. There's also manipulation. Yall I wasn't kidding about the angst

There's also a lot of focus on how they're all robots, very cool robots with feelings lol

That's all I can think of, as always please lmk if I should add anything!

Ao3 Link: Right here!

Start reading here: Chapter 1

Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

C5 - A friendly game of minigolf

     Luckily for Chester, Vanessa was far too occupied ranting to them about videogame speed-run strategies to notice how slowly they were working or how intently they watched her work. Chester might be slow, but they were struggling a lot less with their tasks than they had been. Things like wiring and running diagnostics were starting to make sense, and when things didn't make sense, they could usually puzzle out a solution given enough time.

     Vanessa and Chester had just finished replacing a broken coin slot on one of the arcade cabinets (talking about the games in the arcade had quickly steered into favorite video games, of which Vanessa had quite a few) when they decided it was time for a break.

     "You'd think with how much of it there is around here I'd hate pizza by now, but I still crave it almost as much as Chica," Vanessa said. "You wanna go in on a pie with me?"

     "Sure, that sounds good." Chester called the elevator. They looked back at the arcade as they waited, watching a group of kids going absolutely feral on the arcade's connecting dance floor. The DJ, an enormous animatronic perched atop a stage, waved at Chester and Vanessa as they left the arcade. They both waved back.

     "The DJ is a really nice guy. Have you talked to him yet?" Vanessa asked. She pushed the button for the main floor, and the elevator made its decent towards the food court, energetic pop music coming in through an overhead speaker.

     "I haven't. I thought he couldn't talk? He doesn't have a voice box, just music files and speakers." Chester recalled DJMM's extensive diagrams.

     "He uses sign language, like you." Vanessa made the sign for 'sign language', moving her pointer fingers in opposing circles. "Between the two of you, I'm getting lots of practice!"

     Chester smiled at that. The elevator doors opened, and the two made quick work of acquiring lunch. The glamrocks were putting on a show for the lunchtime crowd. Chester and Vanessa passed a gaggle of kids loudly singing along on their hasty retreat from the commotion.

     The breakroom was blissfully quiet compared to the rest of the building. Chester's headaches were getting less frequent, but they still relished the reprieve from the cacophony of noise.

     The two sat at Chester's usual corner table. There were only two other employees in the break room, neither of them people Chester recognized. Chester happily dug into their cheap and extra cheesy mall food quality pizza with Vanessa.

     "Have those cops outside asked you any questions yet? They're sooo annoying. They nearly made me late for my shift this morning." Vanessa rolled her eyes.

     "I guess I've gotten lucky," Chester signed slowly, staring at their slice of pizza.

     Vanessa went on. "They apparently wanted to search the building, but they can't get a warrant. I asked a few questions myself, though. Get this- they haven't given up on the steak-out yet because the criminal they're after is wanted for murder. They lost the crook somewhere in the woods behind the plex, so they think the crook is hiding out there somewhere. Like, hiding in a tree fort or in a cave with some bears. One of my friends is super bummed cause they've got all the hiking trails closed off. But isn't that crazy?? There might be a murderer out there, right behind where we work." Vanessa wiggled her fingers at Chester. "Ooooh spooky!"

     Chester swallowed uncomfortably, nearly choking on their pizza. "Yeah. Crazy." They set the slice down, suddenly loosing their appetite. "Do the ghosts have any gossip to report?"

     Vanessa eagerly accepted the topic change, much to Chester's relief. "They do!! From what I hear, Lance got a boyfriend! He came to pick Lance up one night at the end of his shift. I'm told there was a very sweet kiss upon a cheek."

     "Good for him," Chester signed. "I think mister Baxter is a decent guy, if he's found someone then I'm glad for him."

     Vanessa nodded her agreement. "I wish I could find a special lady. I've been told I come on kinda strong." She sighed and picked at a burnt piece of pizza crust for a moment. "How about you? Got anyone special in your life?"

     Chester shook their head. "Besides the difficulties of finding someone who's actually alright with me being ace, I'm far too busy these days. I don't exactly get out much."

     "Oh yeah, I couldn't imagine working the night shift all the time like you do, and picking up extra day shifts on top of that! But hey, if you ever feel up to it, maybe sometime we can wingman each other? Hit the town, have some fun at the very least?" Vanessa's eyebrows bounced enticingly as she poked Chester's shoulder.

     "That does sound like fun…" Genuinely, Chester would have loved to hang out with Vanessa outside of work. It had been so long since they'd done that sort of thing. It'd been a long time since they'd had a friend. But… this wasn't real. Even if they could leave the plex, Chester wasn't at all who they were pretending to be. Vanessa didn't even know their real name. "I'm sorry, like I said I'm just really busy these days."

     "That's alright. If you ever need a break, offer still stands." Vanessa smiled.

     Chester and Vanessa went their separate ways once their break was over. Chester didn't have long to mull over the lonely sort of despair they'd brought upon themself before they ran into Rosa.

     "Hey, there you are. You done with your break?" Rosa asked. She shifted a thermos from one hand to another so she could pull out her faz-phone. "I need you to take a task for me. Its animatronic repair, but it's a simple one, shouldn't be too much trouble. Lance is off today so I'm covering a few of his duties."

     Chester couldn't come up with a good enough excuse to turn the task down. They'd managed to get by so far by cherry picking tasks they could manage, tasks that weren't as horribly consequential as repairing one of the animatronics. If they messed up something like that… Not only would they be at risk of someone figuring out they didn't actually belong here, but there was a chance they'd hurt the bot in question.

     "Thanks a million, Chester. You're a life saver. Keep up the good work, kid." Rosa pat Chester's shoulder and took a long swig from her thermos as she carried on past them.

     Chester looked down at their phone. They had a new high priority task. With no small amount of dread, Chester dragged their feet down to the access tunnels, making their way to parts and service. They struggled to remember everything they'd read about the animatronics, everything they'd studied and learned about wiring and welding.

     Despite their attempts to prolong their arrival at parts and service, Chester found that they'd arrived all too soon. They could have sworn they'd intentionally taken the long way around, but they never could get the hang of these hallways.

     The star of the whole plex, the bear mascot himself stood waiting for Chester by the enormous cylindrical machine at the room's center. Just their luck. Freddy Fazbear gave Chester a little wave as they entered the room. Chester noted his other arm hung a little awkwardly at his side.

     "Hello… I take it Miss Garcia could not make it?" Freddy asked.

     "She says she's covering some things for mister Baxter," Chester explained. They pulled up the task details. Rosa's descriptions were extremely brief, compared to Lance's long winded explanations. "Your right elbow joint seems to have been damaged?"

     "That is right. I took a step too close to Chica during our last performance, and… well, Chica gets really into her guitar playing at times," Freddy explained.

     "I see." Chester eyed the cylindrical machine. They approached the computer hooked up to it, powering it on and squinting at the complicated command menu. They quickly scanned through the options, finding only a few they understood. One of the commands was 'Run Diagnostic Scan'. Chester selected this. A prompt came up asking for Chester's technician code. They'd memorized their code by now, and plugged it in. Another prompt came up, alerting Chester that there was no animatronic to scan. They looked up at Freddy. "Would you mind stepping inside the cylinder?"

     "Of course, superstar." Freddy made his way into the cylinder, walking slowly. He had to duck a little to be sure he didn't bonk his top hat on the top of the doorway. He eyed the cold metal table and the dangling machinery above. "Do you want me to… Do I have to be on the table for this repair?"

     Chester paused. They had no idea if it was protocol or something to have the animatronic strapped to the table for repairs. But if Freddy had asked, maybe it wasn't? The scan seemed to be running just fine regardless. Chester eyed the table. They noted Freddy was eying the table as well, his metal brows pinched together in worry.

     "No, we should be fine," Chester signed.

     "Ah, good." Freddy's expression relaxed. "I find the table rather uncomfortable."

     Chester could imagine, though they wondered how an animatronic would even mind the hard surface. The bots had pressure sensors, and proximity sensors, but no way to tell the difference between textures.

     When the scan finished, Chester's faz-phone lit up with a very short list of replacement parts, and where to find them. Lucky for them, the joint and socket they needed were here in the room, on one of the shelves. Chester picked these up, comparing barcodes on the shelves to the codes on their phone. Thankfully, the plastic bin of spare joins seemed to have been stored away correctly. They probably had Lance to thank for that, what with how much time he spent down here in the access tunnels.

     Chester spotted a power generator against the wall, right by the bin of joints. Chester noted the generator in their head for later. They weren't sure how they'd get it all the way up to the daycare, but they figured they could puzzle that out when they came to it.

     Parts in hand, Chester stepped into the cylinder with Freddy. They set the parts on the unoccupied table.

     "Can I see your arm, please?" Chester asked.

     Freddy held out his damaged limb to them, even angling it so they could get at the screws holding the metal panels in place. Chester took in a deep breath and got to work removing the panel concealing the elbow joint.

     Once the panel was off, Chester stared at the joint for a long moment. They realized with a start that they actually knew what they were looking at. They could picture Freddy's diagram in their head, they knew what the joint was meant to look like, they knew how it connected to the sockets, they knew how the sockets were bolted in place. None of the wiring had been damaged, but even if it had, Chester realized that they knew how the wiring connected as well. With a sense of cautious relief, they took out their tools and got to work disconnecting the top socket.

     "Here, if you could place your arm over the table, I'll stand on the other side. That way the arm won't just fall once I've got the socket off," Chester signed.

     Freddy complied. He watched Chester work as they dismantled the joint, leaving his upper arm connected to the lower half by a bundle of wires. Chester got to work connecting the new joint together.

     "This doesn't… hurt, does it? Your arm being like this?" Chester asked.

     "Not at all, superstar. I do appreciate how gentle you are," Freddy said. "None of the wires are damaged, right? Wire reconnection is far more uncomfortable."

     "You're in luck, the wiring is fine," Chester assured.

     "Oh, good!"

     Chester glanced up at Freddy. He seemed far more relaxed now than he had earlier. His expression was set into a neutral smile and he was standing straight, though he was bent slightly over the table. Chester wondered briefly if it was strange for him to be in parts and service, where he was surrounded by storage shelves full of, essentially, replacement body parts.

     Chester's curiosity pressed at the edges of their brain, questions bouncing around like the worlds worst game of ping pong. "Pardon me if this is rude or upsetting to ask, but… what is pain like for you?"

     "I do not experience it very often. Sometimes the way my programming runs feels… disagreeable. Forgive me, it is not easy for me to describe. I have been told pain for humans often depends on what is causing the pain. I believe that much is true for me as well. Some circumstances are manageable or mitigatable. Wiring, for instance, is more manageable, however uncomfortable. Running power through a new wire is uncomfortable at first, it feels very tight, like squeezing through the head of a needle. It only lasts a moment. Other times…" Freddy paused to collect his thoughts. Chester could hear a small whirring fan kick on in Freddy's head. "Other times there is nothing to be done, the discomfort does not pass easily, and it can be very overwhelming. This usually only occurs when I disagree with a line of code and try to keep it from running, or when I encounter system errors. I have never experienced a headache before, but I imagine the sensation closely resembles a very bad migraine."

     "I see." Chester nodded slowly, mulling over this information carefully in their brain. "If I ever cause you pain or discomfort, please let me know and I'll try to fix it."

     Freddy smiled. "Thank you, that is very kind of you. I will let you know."

     Chester finished connecting the new joint in no time. They had Freddy try it out before screwing the panel back in place.

     "You've done a fantastic job, superstar! Thank you." Freddy pat Chester's shoulder, beaming down at them happily.

     "No problem, just… doing my job." Chester forced a small smile.

     Freddy had a birthday party to get to, and so he waved goodbye before making his way out of parts and service. Chester disposed of the damaged parts and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. They'd actually done it. It hadn't even been difficult. Still, with any luck, they wouldn't have to do another animatronic repair task for a good long while.

~~~

     "Hey Sun!" Chester called out verbally, since their hands were full. They heaved the bulky metal monstrosity in past the daycare doors. They kicked their shoes off as they made it inside. "I finally found a generator!! And I think it shouldn't be too hard to hook it up to the lights!"

     "OH?!" Sun came bounding up. "Oh, oh dear. Oh. Please don't… ah. Can I carry this for you??" Sun's hands were fluttering around the generator's frame. His gaze was fixed on the wheels, where they were catching and pulling at the padded floor and starting to leave marks.

     "If you don't mind," Chester signed, stepping back. Not only was it extremely heavy, but the generator's shitty little wheels were proving to be a huge pain to maneuver over the cushioned floor anyways.

     Sun eagerly grabbed the generator by the bottom edges. He straightened without so much as a fraction of hesitance, like he was lifting a box of feathers. He turned and walked off at normal pace with it, leaving a stunned Chester rooted to the spot.

     "Are you coming? I don't think I can hook this up by myself," Sun called, realizing Chester wasn't behind him.

     "Right!" Chester shook it off and hurried after Sun. "You're really cool, you know that?"

     Sun's faceplate spun happily. "Why thank you, friend! What brought this on?" Sun maneuvered the generator, balancing it against his hip and holding it one handed as he tapped the code into the panel and opened the door to the spiral staircase.

     "Jeez," Chester breathed. They followed Sun through the door, closing it behind them. "You're carrying that generator like its nothing. The thing weighs twice as much as I do."

     Sun looked down at the generator, pausing halfway up the stairs. He suddenly feigned straining with it, lowering it and hunkering over it, arms rattling. He took a massive exaggerated step. "ARGHHH! HRGHHHH! GRAHHHHH!" He continued like this the rest of the way up the steps. When he got to the top, he set the generator down and threw himself over it dramatically. "PHEW!!!" He wiped imaginary sweat from his brow, then looked at Chester. "How was that?"

     Chester was too busy laughing to reply. They gripped the railing on the stairs tightly, feeling a little light headed. They got their giggling under control. "That was much better, thank you."

     Sun pushed the generator into the room, parking it by the wall with the electrical box. Chester got out a screwdriver and began removing the back panel of the electrical box.

     "How long do you think it'll take?" Sun asked, peering over Chester's shoulder as they set the panel aside and got to work.

     "No more than a few minutes, I think. I did some reading, it shouldn't be too much trouble. Right now I'm installing the interlock kit to the panel. Then I need to install the power inlet box, then start wiring the connections. Then I just install the circuit breaker and put the panel back on," Chester recited the steps they'd learned.

     "Mmhmm. Yes, yes." Sun nodded along. "Very good. Yes."

     Chester smiled. "Do you want to help?"

     "Sure!!" Sun bounced up and down.

     "You can hold these little panel screws for me, if you like," Chester offered, sweeping the little collection of screws off the rim of the electrical box, where they'd been perched precariously. They held the handful out to Sun.

     "On it, boss!" Sun very carefully cupped the screws in his hands. He stared at them dutifully, making sure they didn't run off anywhere.

     Chester was making good progress. They glanced back at Sun, who was still staring down at the screws. Chester smiled at him. Sun noticed the attention and tilted his faceplate up to Chester.

     "What's that smile for?" Sun's faceplate tilted a few degrees in curiosity.

     "Oh, nothing. You're just cute is all," Chester said.

     "Cute??" Sun jolted.

     Chester froze, embarrassment shooting through them. Did I seriously just said that-?! "I mean-!" Chester jerked their hands away to sign. They weren't looking, their hand pulling or hitting something, they couldn't tell. The electrical shock was more than a little distracting.

     Chester yelped and fell back on their ass. All at once they could see trees, rain, the shape of the plex from the top of the hill, its neon sign glowing through the haze. Chester blinked, shaking off the images and the shock. Their heart was pounding uncomfortably.

     For a moment, Chester panicked as their vision didn't seem to want to come back to them. They blinked rapidly, the dread setting in for only a moment before realization calmed them- the lights had just gone out. Chester's eyes were adjusting, they could see the electrical box in front of them and the shape of the generator next to them.

     "Sun?" Chester called out. They felt along the ground behind them, where Sun had been. Their hand met a collection of tiny screws scattered on the ground. The dread came back.

     Was Sun freaking out about the lights? Where was he?? Chester fumbled along their belt until they found the flashlight they were now glad they'd taken from the employee stock room. They clicked it on, wincing at the sudden sharp white light. They swept the beam across the room. The room was empty, though Chester noted the curtain had been thrown open. They hurried out onto the balcony and peered down at the daycare below. They swept the beam over the ball pit, but everything was still.

     "Sun?! Where are you??" Chester took the stairs down, planning to scour the daycare and make sure Sun was alright. They took two steps beyond the door before freezing to the spot.

     Red eyes were fixed on them from the other end of the daycare.

     "You." Chester stared wide eyed at the animatronic, cast in shadows beyond the reach of their flashlight. This was the same animatronic they'd met on their first night shift, the one who'd given them a concussion before promptly and totally vanishing. Chester stood stock still, waiting for the animatronic to move.

     The animatronic did move, but they turned away from Chester. They turned back to the wall they were standing next to, frantically tapping away at something there. Chester risked a few steps closer, holding their beam higher. The animatronic seemed to be tapping at a light switch. Chester panicked for a moment as a thought occurred to them- what if they'd just short circuited the whole building??

     Chester went to the nearest window, then breathed a sigh of relief. They could see low neon lighting in the waiting area outside from a sign on a wall, and from an ATM machine by the check in desk. So they'd just knocked out the daycare's lights, then. Chester turned from the window, focusing on the task at hand. The animatronic hadn't attacked them or threatened to detain them, so he still remembered Chester's employee profile. Either that or he wasn't currently in security mode. Whatever the case, Chester still needed to find Sun.

     "Sun! Where'd you go?" Chester called out, struggling to project. They swept their light back and forth over play structures and stacks of toys. They paused, noticing the red eyed animatronic watching them. They breathed, trying to reign in their apprehension. They signed with one hand, flashlight in the other. "Did you see where Sun went?"

     The animatronics' eyes shifted in the dark. It took a second for Chester to realize, but the bot had tilted his head, much like how Sun tilted his faceplate when he was confused or curious.

     Chester was having a hard time not feeling unnerved with the way the bot was just staring at them. "…You're not gonna bash my skull in again, are you?" They tried a light laugh.

     The red eyes lowered. Chester squinted through the darkness, not willing to get too much closer, even to put the bot in the light. It looked like he'd crouched down to the ground.

     "…Sorry."

     Chester paused. They hadn't been expecting the bot to apologize. "Oh. That's alright. All is forgiven. Just uh, don't do it again. Okay?"

     The bot didn't reply, and Chester was too far to make out any sort of expression. They pushed their fear aside to take a few steps closer, still watching the bot carefully.

     "How come you aren't around often?" Chester asked.

     The bot watched Chester just as carefully as they watched him. "…I'm only here when the lights are out." He spoke in quiet, gentle tones.

     Chester took another step, slowly but surely closing the distance. "What, like a vampire?"

     The bot mimicked the sign, tapping two fingers in a 'V' shape to his neck. "Sort of." He sounded amused by this.

     Another step closer, and he was almost in the light. This time, he moved back away from the light. "…You don't like the light," Chester realized. They glanced down at their flashlight, then back up at the animatronic, who's gaze never wavered from them for a moment. Chester took in a breath and held it. They clicked the light off.

     For a moment, all Chester could see in the sudden darkness was two red pinprick lights a ways ahead of them. They stood stock still, waiting. Waiting for their eyes to adjust, waiting to see if the bot moved. The bot was just as still as they were.

     Once Chester's eyes adjusted enough to make out shapes around them, they started to relax. They slipped the flashlight back into their toolbelt.

     "You can see in the dark, right?" Chester signed.

     "Yes," came the bot's hushed voice. "You cannot."

     "That's correct."

     "…Why did you turn your light off?" the bot asked.

     "It bothered you. Just trying to keep on your good side." Chester smiled, hoping to convey they weren't being too serious. "Listen… I'm looking for my friend Sun. I'm not sure where he's gone, but he can't be far. He can't really leave the daycare. Since you can see in the dark… would you mind helping me look for him?"

     The bot tilted his head again. After a long moment of consideration, he said, "…Sure."

     Chester watched the bot stand slowly and turn to study a nearby crawly tube. Chester turned their gaze to the play structure they were standing beside. They tried to think about where Sun could be. If he'd jumped off the balcony in a panic, maybe he'd hurt himself on the landing?? Maybe he was laying broken and unresponsive at the bottom of the ball pit. The thought caused Chester no small amount of distress. They turned their back to the red eyed animatronic and headed for the ball pit.

     Chester started wading through plastic balls, trying to feel along and not loose their footing at the same time. They noted the red eyed animatronic watching them from the corner of their eye.

     "What's your name?" Chester asked. "I'm… I'm Chester." The name didn't sit quite right with them, but it wasn't like they could go around giving out their real name at this point.

     "Moon." The animatronic, Moon, watched Chester carefully.

     "Huh. Have you ever met Sun?" Chester asked.

     Moon took a moment before responding. He was still watching Chester intently. "…Not in person."

     "Oh. Well, he's pretty cool. If we can find him, you could meet him…" Chester rounded back to give the ball pit another pass. No sign of Sun yet.

     Moon approached, footsteps cautious, only audible by the jingling bells on his shoes. He stopped by the edge of the ball pit, crouching down to grip the rim of the pit with his hands. Chester took a moment to look him over, realizing he was finally close enough to see.

     Moon wore similar pants to Sun's, though his were patterned differently, with star shapes instead of long stripes. He had a lot of ruffles and ribbons like Sun too, though his whole color scheme was much darker. He wore a long nightcap on his head, a little gold bell at the end catching the low light from out in the hall. His circular face was half shadowed, leaving only a crescent shape visible in the dark. He had a stagnant grin like Sun's. 'Moon' seemed to be just as fitting to him as Sun's name was to him.

     "Huh. Another clown animatronic," Chester said. They had to wonder what role Moon could possibly play here at the plex. Had he been some sort of prototype for Sun?? Was that why he wasn't usually out touring the plex? Maybe he was meant to be decommissioned or something?

     "Jester," Moon corrected.

     Chester tilted their head in curiosity.

     "Lots of people don't like clowns… think they're scary. Jesters are friendlier," Moon said.

     "Oh. I understand." Chester gave up on the ball pit. They huffed and made their way to the edge of the pit, climbing out. Moon took several steps back, keeping his distance. Chester stood a little too quickly and wavered, a bout of dizziness quickly hitting them. They felt their weight shift back a little too far, and took in a sharp hiss of air as their stomach dropped-

     There was a small jerk, and suddenly Chester was pulled forwards. They could see Moon standing right next to them, his hand on their tool belt. Chester flinched before they could realize what had happened; Moon had just pulled them forwards by the belt, saving them from crashing back into the ball pit.

     Moon leapt back with startling speed, crouching back down to the ground. "Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry."

     Chester held up their hands, straightening up and taking a steadying breath. Their heart was pounding. They willed it to settle. "It's okay, thank you for catching me." They took a step away from the pit and cast another look around the daycare. "I really don't know where Sun went… I'm starting to get worried. Listen, I'm gonna try and get the lights working again so I can have an easier time looking for him. Since you don't like the lights, I'm letting you know in advance so you can head out, alright?"

     Moon just stared at Chester. He was very still, no chance of gleaning his reaction through body language like Chester had learned to do with Sun.

     "I'll see you around?" Chester offered, heading back towards the door to the spiral staircase.

     "I'm not sure," Moon said quietly.

     "Well, I hope so. I've got some questions for you, next time I see you." Chester reached the door and gave Moon a little wave. "Bye for now."

     "Goodnight," Moon replied.

     Back in the tower room, Chester made quick work of finishing connecting the generator to the electrical box. They crossed their fingers and activated the generator, flipping the lights back on.

     There was a sudden hum that Chester realized just then had been missing. They blinked, suddenly blind in the flood of light around them. It had worked- the lights were on. Chester double checked everything, making sure it was all installed correctly and connected properly. They breathed a sigh of relief and went back out on the balcony.

     To their surprise, they spotted Sun standing not far from the ball pit. Had he really fallen in after all and Chester had just missed him??

     "Sun!!" Chester called, relieved to see their friend. Sun's gaze snapped up to them, and he waved enthusiastically.

     Chester hurried through the door and down the steps. In their rush they tripped down the last few stairs like a dunce, flying forwards with a yelp. They landed very suddenly, but not uncomfortably, against plastic casing and soft fabric ruffles. Sun had caught them, having come through the door to meet them.

     "Careful!!" Sun chided. He gently released Chester, keeping a hand on their shoulder to be sure they wouldn't fall right over again.

     "I was worried about you!!" Chester lightly swatted Sun's arm. "You really don't like the lights being out, huh?"

     "I didn't mean to worry you." Sun's eyes flashed with blue light. "Are you alright?? Are you- did you- did…" Sun relaxed, posture slouching slightly as the blue light clicked off. "You're unharmed."

     "I'm alright. I actually sort of made a new friend." Chester recounted their meeting with Moon, and how Moon had helped them search for Sun before Chester had decided to fix the lights. "I guess he's gone now. He doesn't like the lights, apparently."

     Sun laughed his uncomfortable strained sort of laugh, like the sound was being dragged out of his voice box. "You met Moon. And you're okay?" That blue light came on again.

     "I told you, I'm fine. I think I've got the issue figured out, with you guys getting confused in security mode. Remember when we talked about that?" Chester asked, their hands moving through the signs quickly.

     "I remember," Sun said.

     "Moon wasn't confused this time. He remembered that I'd showed him a paper copy of my employee form. So there's no issue anymore! I still haven't figured out why the employee files get corrupted every now and then or how to fix it, but now I'm at least confidant in this solution. And I think you were right about the others getting confused because of conflicting messages, missing employee forms and valid nametags. I've been thinking about something Freddy told me recently, about how he sometimes disagrees with how his programming runs, and how it makes him feel uncomfortable, like he's in pain. This is just a hunch, but I think maybe its hard for you guys to cope with how certain programs or errors make you feel. So maybe that’s why…" Chester trailed off. That's why Moon lashed out that night.

     "That's why the others get… confused," Sun finished slowly. He wrung his hands together, metal shifting quietly against metal. "Chester… when we say 'confused'…"

     Chester willed Sun not to finish his question. He did anyways.

     "Moon hurt you, didn't he?" Sun asked quietly.

     Chester looked away. They sat down on the stairs, hands folded in their lap while they considered how to reply. They went back and forth in their head- they wanted to tell Sun. They despised lying to him, keeping things from him. At the same time, if word got out and the company filed an incident report with the police, Chester was done for. They looked up at Sun. He was clearly worried, his grin entirely foreign amidst his tensed body language. He was so worried for them. Chester sighed, hoping they wouldn't regret this. "It's extremely important that you don't tell anyone. Okay?"

     Sun nodded solemnly.

     "Okay. That night, when I made that deal with you so I could stay in your room… Earlier that night, I met Moon for the first time. It… didn't go super great." Chester explained in minor detail how Moon had stuttered through voice lines and chased them down. They told Sun that Moon had been the cause of their head injury, leaving it at that. They explained how they'd finally shown Moon their employee form, and how Moon had seemed to snap out of it before retreating.

     Sun's hands were shaking as Chester spoke. He was silent until they were done.

     "Chester… I… I'm so sorry," Sun whispered, uncharacteristically quiet. "I'm so, so sorry."

     "It wasn't your fault," Chester said.

     "I'm sorry," Sun said again, his voice wavering and edged with static.

     "Easy Sun, it's alright," Chester tried to assure. "It wasn't anyone's fault! I don't even hold it against Moon. I'm still sort of scared of him, honestly, but… I don't think he meant to hurt me. It didn't seem like he was fully aware of what was going on through… whatever it was he was going through."

     Sun made a soul wrenching whining noise, the sound of it now drenched in static. He folded his arms tightly, trying to stop their shaking.

     Chester realized then that he was crying, as much as he could cry without any tears.

     "I don't like this," Sun whined. "I don't like it, it hurts, it hurts, I want this to stop."

     Chester shot to their feet, stumbling slightly but quickly regaining their footing. They closed the distance between them and Sun and wrapped their arms around him.

     "It's okay," Chester whispered, pressing the signs into Sun's back. "It's okay."

     Sun's arms hovered over Chester, shaking hard enough to be audible. Then he finally settled his arms around Chester. A shiver rattled its way down his whole frame. He squeezed them tightly, holding onto them like a lifeline.

     Chester held Sun until he stopped shaking. When they pulled away, Sun was reluctant to release them, but loosened his arms just enough for Chester to slip away.

     "Thank you. That was…" Sun put a hand over his chest, trying to feel for something that wasn't there. "I don't know."

     "Sadness. You were sad," Chester offered. "Or at least, whatever the robot equivalent to it is."

     Sun considered this. His fingers scraped slowly over plastic plating. "I don't think I like that at all."

     Chester nodded. "Yeah, that's a tough one."

     Sun focused back in on Chester. "Why didn’t you tell anyone you'd been hurt? Why… Why stay here? After Moon had hurt you?"

     "…I can't answer that. I'm sorry." Chester couldn't look at Sun.

     "…Okay." Sun reached out and gently took one of Chester's hands. "Chester, I don't want you to be scared of me. The thought of that makes me… feel…" Sun trailed off, his faceplate lowering.

     "I'm not scared of you, Sun," Chester assured. They squeezed Sun's hand. They were a little confused as to why Sun would be worried about that. Maybe because he and Moon looked alike?

     Sun didn't look up, didn't move for a long moment. He stared at Chester's hand in his. Chester got the feeling he wanted to say something. They waited patiently for him to find the words, understanding full well how difficult it could be at times to find the words.

     Finally, Sun settled on a simple, "I'm sorry."

     "What are you sorry for?? I'm not upset with you."

     Sun didn't reply. He released Chester's hand and turned away. "I think I want to stop feeling sad. It's too much, I don't like it."

     Chester thought maybe Sun had been trying to apologize for his emotions. "It's alright to feel things, Sun. I know it can be miserable sometimes, but it'll make the things that make you feel good that much more wonderful by comparison." Chester straightened up. "If you want, we can play a game? Put all this behind us?"

     Sun nodded eagerly. "Yes, I would like that."

     Chester lead the way out of the stairwell and back into the daycare. They chose a game at random from the game shelf and helped Sun set things up.

     As the game progressed, Sun started to relax. Chester relaxed by extension, glad to see that Sun was starting to feel better. By the end of the game, Sun was even back to his happier movements, swaying and tapping. Even so, there was a slight hesitance once it was time for them to part ways. Sun had a daycare to prepare, and Chester had a long day to sleep off.

~~~

     The next night, Sun seemed to be feeling much better. Sun insisted Chester pick the game once more, again assuring them that he didn't mind any game, he just had fun playing and spending time with Chester. Chester felt much the same way, and so they chose a game at random, though they tried to pick a new game for variety.

     Tonight's game was 'Connect Four'. Sun set up the slot tower and divvied out the chips. Chester took the red chips, figuring the yellow chips were more fitting to Sun.

     "You really like board games, huh?" Chester asked, starting off the round by dropping a chip into one of the center rows.

     "I do!" Sun nodded enthusiastically. "I like all games. So long as everyone is having fun! That's what's most important." Sun dropped his chip one slot to the right of Chester's.

     Chester dropped their next chip in the slot to the left of their first. "I would have loved to have a place like this growing up. Seeing these jungle gyms and listening to you play with the kids all day, it just makes me happy knowing the kids have a place like this. You run a really nice little daycare here, Sun."

     Sun started bouncing in his seat with enough fervor to bump the table. "Oh gosh!! Thank you so much, that's so kind of you!" Sun laughed. He seemed to realize suddenly that it was his turn, and quickly dropped his next chip, to the left of Chester's last chip. "I try really, really hard to make sure everyone is taken care of and having fun. It's what I was built for! Sometimes it's hard, kids don't get along or they have bad days or get upset or sometimes the parents are mean, but even so, I can't imagine ever wanting to do anything else! When the kids are kind to each other, or when they give me a hug goodbye, or draw something for me, there's this feeling… sometimes feeling things is so hard and overwhelming, but this feeling is so, so nice, it's one of my favorite things! And it's almost never overwhelming, definitely one of the kinder things to my processors. It's like… its like right after a software update that patches up a bug, or right after I finish recharging. Like everything is not only as it should be, but the best it can be!"

     "That's really nice." Chester smiled. They turned their chip over a few times in their hands before dropping it on top of Sun's last chip. "I think the kids are all the better for it, too."

     "I sure hope so!" Sun continued to bounce and sway, barely managing not to bump the table again. He dropped his next piece, beside the first chip he'd dropped.

     Chester could hear bells jingling merrily along Sun's costume as he bounced. It almost sounded like there were bells jingling inside him too, like there were spare bells stowed away somewhere in his casing. Every part of him really was crafted for his position. Chester wondered what that was like, that feeling of fulfillment Sun must have from carrying out the role he was entirely and intentionally made for. They imagined as well what it might be like for him to fear loosing it. Chester felt they understood a bit better why Sun seemed so anxious about the lights- being told the daycare was at risk of being closed down… What was anyone supposed to do if they'd lost their entire life's purpose? What they were literally built for?

     "You've been thinking for a while! It's so early in the game to be strategizing that hard. I worry I'm in for a rough time!" Sun laughed lightly.

     Chester brought themself out of their thoughts, focusing back on the game. "Sorry, I got distracted." They made their next move, dropping their chip to the right of Sun's last chip.

     "Do you like being a technician? Does it feel… what's the human equivalent? Like a full night's rest??" Sun wondered. He made his next move while Chester replied.

     "I do, actually. I didn't think I would, when I… started this job. But, as it turns out, I like working with my hands, and seeing something that was broken run again because I fixed it is very rewarding. And there's a satisfaction to marking tasks complete in my little list. It feels… fulfilling. Maybe not to quite the degree that you experience, and maybe not in the same way that you experience it, but there is that sense of fulfillment for me from doing a good job. Or at least, doing my best and having it be enough."

     "That's good! So you think you'll stick around then? You like working here, right?" Sun asked.

     Chester stared down at their chip, flipping it over and over in their hand while they thought. "I… yeah. I would like to stick around," they admitted. They dropped their chip. They knew they couldn't stick around here, they were only here because they needed a place to lay low for a while. But… there wasn't any harm in not being miserable while they were stuck hiding out here, was there? They hadn't lied to Sun after all, they did want to stick around. Even if they couldn't.

     "Good! We can play so many games!!" Sun's rays all popped in and out. His stagnant grin seemed much more genuine. "I really like playing games with you. It's much different than playing with the kids! I love playing games with them too, but you don't seem to mind at all who wins or looses. You just like to play, like I do!"

     "Yeah." Chester smiled. "It's just nice to hang out with you, honestly. You're very easy to talk to. And that's coming from someone who doesn't like talking to the point of being selectively mute." Chester laughed.

     "Aww, thank you friend! You're very kind." Sun put a hand to his cheek and waved at Chester with the other in a very 'oh, stop it you' sort of way. He dropped his next chip. "How come you don't like talking??"

     Chester explained while they thought about their next move. "Well, for me it's really difficult to translate what's going on in my head into spoken word. And there's a lot to consider with tone and implication, I could accidentally say something I don't mean to say by using the wrong tone or messing up what I'm trying to get across badly enough. It's just easier for me with sign. And sometimes I just… I don't know, I just don't feel like speaking, it feels… difficult. It's tough to explain." They played their next move, managing to line up three chips in a row.

     Sun quickly blocked the space Chester needed for their fourth with his next move. "I see. Speaking can be hard for me too, sometimes! My coding doesn't like it when I try to use certain tones. I'm supposed to be happy and friendly and upbeat all the time! And I don't mind that, really, I like being friendly, and when I'm happy and silly it makes other people around me happy too! But sometimes I don't feel happy. And when I speak it comes out sort of funny," Sun explained.

     Chester could remember hearing static coming through with Sun's voice from time to time. They nodded in understanding. "I see." They dropped another chip.

     They played a few more turns in silence. Sun nearly got four in a row, but Chester managed to block him before he could win the game. The board quickly filled with red and yellow tiles. They would both get close to winning without managing to actually seal the deal.

     Sun broke the silence first. "What's your favorite thing to do when you're not working?"

     Chester thought back, to a time before their life had gotten so complicated. "I really like to take little walks and just… look."

     "Look?" Sun tilted his head, faceplate rotating a few degrees.

     Chester nodded. "Yeah, I like to look at the world in general. Sometimes I'd take a walk in the woods and find a nice place to sit and just… look at the trees and plants moving in the breeze and watch birds and squirrels. I love looking at the stars, too. I don't know, there's just something nice about just. Existing in the world. Watching it quietly and appreciating it."

     "Hmm." Sun hummed thoughtfully. "That sounds very nice."

     They played until there were no moves left to make, the game ending in a draw. They tipped the slot tower and played another round. This time Chester won, though they got the sneaking suspicion that Sun had let them win. They played and talked and laughed together until it was time to wrap things up and prepare for the day.

     This time, when Chester left to sleep up in Sun's room and wished him good luck for the day, they felt a little sad to say goodbye. They felt silly for the thought, but they couldn't help it. They genuinely enjoyed Sun's company, and despite everything, it seemed the feeling was mutual.

     Chester curled up in their makeshift bed, drifting off with ease and sleeping just as easily.

~~~

     Chester's dizziness was slowly improving. The headaches they did get were manageable, and the haze clouding their brain was all but gone. Despite their improvements however, they still found themself spacing on certain things.

     I'm totally allowed to blame this on the concussion, Chester thought as they fled for their life down the halls of the plex. They'd spaced and forgotten to return their faz-phone to its charger after their shift. They'd been about to settle down for bed when they'd realized, and not wanting to sleep with the employee form in their pocket, had removed it before bed. Naturally, they'd forgotten to put it back in their pocket when they'd left to return the faz-phone. Which was why they were now being chased down dim neon drenched halls by a violent chicken robot.

     There was a way out of this, if Chester could just think. They were outpacing Chica by a small margin. She was lighter than most of the other animatronics, but she still had trouble turning corners at top speed. Chester couldn't keep running circles all night, though. They'd get tired. Chica would not.

     Chester thought back to a few nights ago, when they and Chica had caught each other both eating things they shouldn't be eating. Chica hadn't said a thing about their missing employee profile then. Of course, Chester's employee form had been on them, then.

     Chester found themself back in the food court. They dashed along the outer line of little restaurants, then made a sharp turn down the short staircase and into the main seating area, taking all five steps at once. They fumbled the landing, careening sideways and forwards. Their hands found a trashcan by the side of the stairs, toppling it in an attempt to regain their balance. This didn't work quite as well as they'd hoped, and they ended up sprawled across the tile, their side hitting the leg of a table.

     In a panic, they tried to quickly scramble back to their feet. They whacked the top of their head on the underside of the table, falling back on their ass with a cry. The pain was quickly overshadowed by fear, but…

     Chester looked up, eyes landing on Chica, who was not currently attempting to murder them. She seemed to have forgotten about Chester entirely, instead focusing on the toppled trashcan. She dropped to her knees and grabbed up in her fist a discarded, mostly eaten slice of pizza from the ground. She eagerly stuffed it in her beak, then feverishly dug through the trash, finding another slice.

     Apparently, the urge to eat garbage pizza was even stronger than Chica's urge to put an end to Chester's error causing existence. Chester only sat around contemplating this for a moment before booking it out of there. They passed a staff bot already rolling over to clean up the mess Chica was making- the familiar custodian bot with the blue cap- who stared intently at Chester as they hurried past.

     Chester made for the daycare, checking over their shoulder to be sure Chica hadn't lost interest in her garbage. They rounded the corner, putting Chica out of sight. They turned around just in time to catch a flash of green before they walked right into another animatronic.

     Monty stood before Chester, perhaps having come to investigate all the ruckus. Chester nearly swore aloud in frustration- they just couldn't catch a break.

     "Hey, little guy! Little- are you lost, lost? Runt, hey-" Monty started to stutter through voice lines. He took a heavy step forwards. "You… don't have… valid employee profile." Monty groaned. Several fans had kicked on and were whirring away, desperately trying to cool down something overheating in his head. "Runt… make this stop."

     Chester was exhausted. With Chica behind them and Monty in front of them, they tried to think. If certain things could snap them out of their error feedback induced rage, then perhaps there was another way out of this. Chester recalled everything they knew about the gator, which admittedly wasn't much. He was prideful, said 'rock-n-roll' a lot, and loved playing minigolf. That would have to be enough.

     "Montgomery, I challenge you to a game of minigolf!" Chester said quickly, speaking as well as signing to be sure Monty understood.

     Monty froze. Chester eyed his clawed hands, hovering uncomfortably close to them.

     "You're on, runt. No way you can beat me!" Monty said. His voice was edged with static. Rigidly, he turned and started to walk away.

     Chester stood still, hoping Monty would just walk off to gator golf and leave them be. No such luck.

     When they didn't follow, Monty turned back around. With a static-drenched growl, he snatched the back of their shirt and pulled them along with him. Chester struggled to keep on their feet as Monty practically carried them with him down the hall, past pirate's cove, and through the double doors to gator golf, whacking his tail on the doorframe as he passed.

     After stomping past bushy plastic foliage and past a swamp themed shack where people could make their minigolf experience purchases, Monty dropped Chester by one of the golf club dispensers. Chester recalled fixing this particular dispenser not too long ago. They winced when Monty ripped the top off the machine, easily tearing it off like the lid of a pringles can. He grabbed two clubs from inside. He held out the one with the blue handle to Chester, keeping the red handled club for himself.

     Chester took it. Monty grabbed some golf balls from inside the machine, then stalked down the faux dirt path to the first hole. He stared at Chester intently.

     It seemed their choices were to either play mini golf with Monty, or perish. Given the options at hand, Chester opted to play. They joined Monty and set their ball on the grass carpet. They squinted at the hole, laying in wait in the shadows between two hills. They tried not to think too hard about the absurdity of the situation, and hit the ball with their club. They actually managed to get it close to the hole. Chester realized that, actually, they shouldn't be trying to win. They needed to prolong this game for as long as possible, because as soon as it was over, Monty would be back in security mode.

     Monty made his move next. He hit the ball surprisingly lightly. It barely made it halfway down the little field.

     As the game went on, Monty would occasionally run a clearly pre-programmed line. These lines were all steeped in static, drawn out and slow as if Monty were struggling to get them out. Or perhaps, trying and failing to keep them in.

     Chester noticed that Monty was playing a lot differently than he had the first time they'd played, when the situation hadn't been quite as tense. There was no boasting or bravado, no light jabs at their skills. He was playing with extreme caution, taking his time to get his ball across little wooden bridges, through hollow logs topped with plastic frogs, around clusters of fake reeds.

     With a start, Chester realized Monty was doing the same thing they were doing- trying to prolong the game. They remembered how he'd sounded before they'd challenged him to the game, how he'd less stated that they didn't have an employee profile, and more warned them about it. He'd asked Chester to make it stop.

     Chester stared at Monty as he barely tapped his golf ball towards the hole, not a foot away. The ball rolled two inches closer at most.

     "Beat that, runt!" Monty hissed through the static. "You having fun yet?"

     Chester hoped that Monty wasn't still in any pain. They made their shot, purposefully overshooting.

     They were only a course away from the final hole when the lights turned on all at once. Monty dropped his club, shoulders sagging in relief. Six in the morning had come at last.

     "MAAAN. What a pain!" Monty groaned loudly. "You alright there, runt?"

     Chester nodded. They leaned against their golf club and returned the question. "Are you alright?"

     Monty waved a clawed hand in the air. "I'm fine. You need to figure out what to do about your employee file if you wanna keep working the night shift. I don't know if you realized but I was pretty close there to doing whatever it took to make the errors stop."

     Chester nodded. "I know. I have a paper copy of my profile form, I just didn't have it on me tonight."

     "Let me take a look at it soon as you get the chance. And show it to the others too," Monty said.

     "I will." Chester held a hand out to Monty. "Good game."

     Monty barked a laugh. "Are you kidding? That was the worst game I've ever played!"

     "Thanks for not killing me," Chester corrected.

     "Sure, kid." Monty shook Chester's hand. "Now get outa here before I change my mind."

     Chester smiled and nodded. They made their way out of gator golf, frowning as they passed the golf club dispenser and realizing they might have to be the one to fix it. They heaved a sigh as they left gator golf, trudging at last towards the daycare.

     Chester considered telling Lance and Rosa about the error feedback loop the bots would get stuck in. If they were careful about it, they might be able to explain the situation, and also warn them against assigning anyone else to the night shift without first having said employee show the bots a copy of their employee form, all without explaining how exactly Chester knew about the issue, and how they'd originally found out. If the bots could be distracted from this hellish overwhelming error loop by engaging certain other programs, that might be valuable information as well.

     They decided to come forward with the information. There wasn't anyone else working the night shift currently, but it likely wouldn't always be that way. Chester didn't want anyone to get hurt, and so they'd have to risk it.

     For now though, they desperately wanted to get to sleep. Once they'd taken Monty's advice and shown all the bots their employee profile form, they hoped they'd be sleeping a little easier. With murderous animatronics scratched off their list of things to worry about, Chester dared to hope that things would even start looking up for them.

[spike-and-faye]

Hello, I require your infinite wisdom please!! :O So I just finished cowboy bebop and I am so confused like who the fuck was Julia. WHAT was Faye's past. I literally never process tv shows and the bebop was not immune to my stupidity LMAO like... I guess the ending just really confused me, from what I gathered Spike and Vicious were friends? But then they weren't? And Julia dated Vicious but also Spike? And he? Went after Vicious even after Julia had died? I am Confusion. Please help. Thank u...

Oh BABEY I am so glad you asked! :) Be prepared for a long answer and I apologize in advance for how incoherent it will probably be.

ALSO Please note: this show is fucking complicated. I have watched it all the way through several times a year, every single year, for over a decade now, and I am *STILL* finding new shit every time I watch it. It's packed with symbols, motifs, allusions and underlying themes that are just so rich. It is so extraordinarily well-written that it could give a lot of classic literature a run for its money. I'm literally working on an in depth literary/film analysis my husband lovingly calls my Manifesto on the series right now. SO PLEASE don't beat yourself up about not catching everything on the first go round.

HEY BTW for anyone who hasn't finished the show, please know there will be MANY spoilers ahead!

Anyways ~

1.     Spike / Julia / Vicious:

The information we get on Spike's past, including Vicious and Julia, is pretty limited considering how big of an impact they have on the story. We get our first glimpse in Session 1: Asteroid Blues, then again in Session 5: Ballad of Fallen Angels, Sessions 12 + 13: Jupiter Jazz, and Sessions 25 + 26: Real Folk Blues. I recommend reviewing these episodes for you Julia and Vicious fix.

What we know:

Spike and Vicious were both members of an organized crime syndicate called the Red Dragons, which is roughly analogous to the Yakuza or the Mafia. Their positions in the organization are not clear, but there are some images alluding to them being hitmen, and they likely rose up in the ranks as they were close acquaintances of Mao Yenrai, a Capo of the Red Dragon.

Spike and Vicious were close comrades. Spike taught Vicious everything he knew about fighting, and the two had a deep trust in each other. Which Spike fucked up ….

^^Vicious looks hot asf here

Julia was Vicious' lover/girlfriend. One night in 2068 (three years prior to the time we watch in the Bebop) Spike is injured, presumably from a syndicate-related fight and he passes out in front of her door. She takes him in and nurses him back to health and he SIMPS HARD for her. We’re all but told he's in LOVE love with her. They start an affair, and Spike tells her he's ready to abandon the whole life - the syndicate, Vicious, Mao, all of it - and they could run away together.

WELL Vicious finds out about this whole affair, and is DOUBLY betrayed because his literal best friend and girlfriend have been having an affair, and tbh I think he was just as jealous of Spike's attentions as he was of Julia's. (Whether or not it’s a sexual thing for Spike … well … I have my own headcanons about that). SO when he finds out they're going to run away together, he gives Julia an ultimatum: you can either kill him, or I'll just kill you both. Spike had written her a letter about meeting him in the graveyard to start their new life together, which she tears up to hide his location from Vicious. (This is the falling ripped up pieces of paper we see in Spike's flash back in Session 5).

^^ r/gifsyoucanhear

**NOTE: There are those who disagree with this view, (looking at you Cowboy Bebop wiki) instead suggesting Vicious and Spike were buds in the past, but then hated each other once they were both considered as potential successors to Mao. That's why Vicious wanted him dead, and he was enlisting Julia (who he didn't necessarily have a romantic connection to) to help kill Spike since he knew Spike loved her. Personally, I think there is plenty of evidence that Vicious also wanted Julia, and in fact was already with her, when Spike started seeing her. If you want me to cite my sources please send an me an ask about it :)

Spike gets the idea, whether by her just not showing up or word around the syndicate being like YO Vicious wants you dead. Despite Vicious' ultimatum to Julia, he was gunna kill Spike either way. SO he sets up an ambush, and SadBoy™ Spike walks intentionally into their trap. Somehow, he doesn't die, though the entire syndicate thinks he did. (Note Annie's reaction to seeing him alive in Session 5). It’s also implied that this is where he lost his eye.

HIS EYE - possibly the most important symbol in the show so I do have to mention it. In episode 26, he explicitly explains to Faye that one of his eyes only sees the past. (PS this isn't dissimilar to Jet's arm… we can get into that another time). Basically, he's constantly living halfway in the past and halfway in the present, and describes the past like a dream he can never wake up from. Because dysfunctional or not - the syndicate WAS his family. (Again - see his relationship with Annie, Mao, and Vicious (prior to Spike's betrayal)). It's his reminder that Julia didn't run away with him, and that he'd left behind that life for her. (He didn’t know she was being threatened until the final episode). Basically Spike is hyper-fixated on what he had and what could've been.

Not long after this, Spike starts bounty hunting because like? What else is he going to do. He doesn't care if he lives or dies but if he has to be alive, he may as well be able to eat. He joins up with Jet Black on the Bebop.

TL; DR: Spike stole Vicious' lover, Julia, so Vicious made Julia choose between her killing Spike or Vicious killing them both. She instead went into hiding and Spike thought he'd been stood up. He fake died and got the hell outta dodge.

2.     What was Faye's past?

Ok let me start by saying Faye is my wife and my life. HOWEVER I hated her the first time I watched this show circa age 13 because I thought she was annoying/vain/shallow (also because #internalizedmisogyny lol am I right fam). Good news! She is all those things! But she's also very lonely and scared and an amnesiac and secretly a sweetie and she realizes she loves the crew of the Bebop like family.

SO my wife's backstory:

she was born in the 1990s (#only90skidsremember). There's some debate over her race/nationality, but due to the images of her hanging out in Merlion Park in Singapore, my bet is that she's Singaporean. She comes from a wealthy family with a big house, and we see some utterly *adorable* film of her as a child/young adolescent in Session 18: Speak Like a Child. I cry everytime </3

^^ Holla for the representation

In 2014, circa age 20, she and her parents were going into space when the shuttle they were on had some kind of malfunction/accident and it killed an unknown number of people, including her parents. At the time, the technology didn’t exist to be able to save her, so she was put into a cryogenic sleep state. Meanwhile, the Lunar Gate accident occurs, breaking up the moon and causing rock showers on Earth's surface. Most people died, moved to Mars, or settled underground.

She wakes up from her cryogenic sleep in 2068. (Also the year Spike leaves the syndicate.) She's 'woken' by the corrupt Dr. Bacchus who plans on charging her for the years and years of medical debt she's accrued. (See Session 15: My Funny Valentine.) Luckily a lawyer takes interest in her case (Whitney Haggus Matsumoto) and tries to help get rid of her debt. The two fall in love, but turns out Whitney is a Scumbag. He's actually Dr. Bacchus's nephew, and faked his death, writing Faye as the sole inheritor to his will. This means she'll take on all his debts. So baby girl has LOTS of debt at this point.

In the intervening years prior to her joining the Bebop, she gambles, cheats, gains a lot of street smarts, and adopts a very seductive character to get her way. She joins the crew on the Bebop in Session 3: Honky Tonk Women.

TL;DR: Faye is Austin powers

YIKES this is so long I am so sorry. Bitches are obsessed with this show. (I am bitches)

3.     The Ending

Okay I'm going to present this in the way, in my scholarly opinion, would be correct, though there are SO many interpretations other than simply 'Spike died :/".

To understand the plot of the last couple episodes we actually have to go back to Session 5: Mao is instructed* to sign a treaty with a rival syndicate called the White Tigers. (*He's instructed by The Van (Council of identical creepy old men) who are the actual head of the dragon. I think we only see them in Session 26.) Well - Vicious is a Bastard Man and he and his fellow mutineers blow up the White Tiger guys' ship and slit Mao's throat. Before he dies, Mao is like "Gotdamnit if Spike was still here this shit wouldn't have happened." Later in the Cathedral battle, Vicious explains to Spike he killed Mao because Mao 'lost his fangs'. He planned on killing Spike for good her, IMO, so there'd be no rival to take over as Capo for the Dragons.

^^These guys are The Van btw

THEN in Session 25, the Van basically catches Vicious and is like “you killed Mao and now you have to go to Time Out.” The Van also decides to just kill everyone associated with Vicious, just 2 B safe. That's why there's a big ass shootout at the Loser Bar where Jet and Spike are chilling, drinking, (missing Faye and Ed and Ein lol) and Shin (younger brother to Lin, who's helping Vicious overthrow the Dragon) explains all this to Spike. OH and PS JULIA IS ALIVE AND HERE IS HER LOCATION :). (**Notice Spike's reaction at this point is different than his reaction in Jupiter Jazz when he hears there's a Julia on Calisto. Much less excited… hmm…).

SO THEN you know we get some flashbacks of the past as previously explained *and* Julia just happens to run into Faye. She recognizes that Faye is one of Spike's friends from the Bebop (she was keeping tabs on him it seems) and picks her up. Faye doesn't know who Julia is but is like damn bitch I'm a little gay for you. (I mean … that may just be my bi ass projecting, but Faye is REALLY struck with her. Look at how she describes her to Jet, I mean come on.)

 Faye's like, 'we should team up' and Julia says 'no thanks but also tell Spike to meet me at *the place*'. Meanwhile back on the Bebop Spike and Jet are talking and Spike goes on about some dream woman who was his other half. (We assume he means Julia … I have my reasons to doubt this … I have a lot of angry DMs about my opinion here lol but I just do not give a fuck (: I can expand on this in another post or you can refer to the title of my fucking blog haha) Personally, I think Watanabe personally left this specific scene open ended, the same way he does with the ending and various other things.

more like SIMP Spiegel

ANYWAY Faye comes back to the Bebop to tell Spike about Julia, and Jet gets intel from a former cop buddy that there's some shit going down with the Dragons. (Again, the Van is hunting down everyone ever associated with Vicious, including your pal Spike). Bebop is attacked, Faye tells Spike what's up with Julia, and he heads out.

 PAN TO VICIOUS chained up - about to be executed - but what's that!? It's a bird!? It's a pla- no it's just a bird. (With one glowing red eye … hm … reminds me of Spike, also the drug Red Eye. Pls let me know if you have any thoughts on this). Just a bird with a BOMB! Explosion (RIP bird c. 2065 - too soon), Vicious kills the elders, his buddies show up and are ready to go fuck shit up.

this show could not be more of an aesthetic

MMMPhhh okay RAINY CEMETERY. Spike and Julia. She draws a gun, explains why she didn't meet him that day, and then hugs him. Now Spike is not *great* at showing his emotions but he literally just stands there. Maybe it's a stoic expression of how sad he is that he never knew she still cared, when it seemed like she dumped him. Maybe he's finally getting some closure on his past. Maybe the past doesn't mean the same thing it used to. (I'll elaborate later on this).

They go to Annie's to get stocked up on stuff, she lets them know she denied knowing Spike was still alive and hey also the Van was assassinated by Vicious and his guys so. Watch out for that. Then her shop is surrounded by Vicious' guys and she dies :(. Spike and Julia escape to the roof, but she's shot and dies in Spike's arms, and says 'it's all just a dream' :(. (Refer to: Spike living in a dream of the past).

Anyway Jet SAID he wasn't gunna go after Spike but. Jet's parental instincts kick in (oh yeah he was shot in the leg earlier btw) and he goes to Sitting Bull to see if he knows where Spike is. He basically says yeah Spike's about to die somewhere. (I want to do a further analysis on all the Sitting Bull scenes.) Well conveniently Spike returns to the Bebop, eats, tells his story about a tiger-striped cat. (At one point Jet asks if he's going there for her, and Spike is like well she's dead now so whatever). THEN we get to the scene where Faye is like HEY YOU CAN'T GO OFF AND DIE ASSHOLE and he's like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I 've been living in the past so I might as well see if I'm living now. (**This will play heavily into my interpretation of the ending). Faye is pissed, shoots the ceiling and he goes off to the syndicate headquarters to fuck shit up.

He basically John Wicks his way through the building, Shin dies, he and Vicious have the big boss battle and whatnot. He kills Vicious and stumbles back out down the stairs and says "Bang!" and collapses. We pan to the sky and see a star fade away.

Well that explains the plot … now here's what I think happened!!! ALSO may I mention, anon - you picked up on something I feel like a lot of people miss out on. Why *did* Spike go back to kill Vicious if Julia was already dead??

Basically, once it became clear that anyone associated with Vicious was being killed, Spike knew they'd hunt him down, and they weren't beneath Kill-Billing their way to him, (i.e. systematically destroying this companions to get to him). And for all his apparent indifference - he really loves his new found family. Jet is literally like an older brother to him. Ed is a little sister. Ein is well … a very good boy. And Faye? Well the relationship is complicated, and I'm not going to get into the 69,420 reasons I ship them here, but I think it is beyond argument that he really does care for her, even if that just in a filial way. He didn't want the syndicates to kill them for their association to him, or in order to get to him. So he did what he had to do to protect them. *AND NO* I am not saying that he didn't love Julia. But it was clear that his desire was no longer to run away with her. I think he genuinely loved and cared about her, but at some point between Jupiter Jazz Pt 2 and now, he accepted that their time together was over. Now he had a new raison d'etre, which is the Bebop.

I think at this point Spike has 'woken up' to reality (as he implied to Faye in their final conversation in episode 26: "Look at these eyes. One of them is a fake, because I lost it in an accident. Since then, I have been seeing the past in one eye, and the present in the other. I had believed that what I saw was not all of reality...I thought I was watching a dream that I would never awaken from. Before I knew it, the dream was all over." (This is from the sub btw I'm too lazy to look up the dub transcript.) He wasn't going there to die, he's going to find out if he's really alive. This line is fucking cool and everything - but it's implications are multitude. I won't go into them all here but basically : what makes him alive now is that he's free from his past. He's alive because he has this new family and protecting them is all he really wants now. Spike was protecting Jet, Faye, Ed, (and Ein) by going and facing the entire syndicate, knowing that their lives would all be in danger.

SO - did Spike die? Well again - Watanabe has purposely and artfully left this open ended. Well, if we're following the symbolism from Sitting Bull, then yeah, the man is as dead as disco, and wouldn't that be a fitting ending? BUT at the same time, Spike always refers to having 'died' before (meaning when he was ambushed by the syndicate, and they all thought he died, and he pretty much did). Don't forget that in  movie (takes places roughly between episodes 22 + 23, and yes, was made AFTER the series but whatever) he like .. DIES dies. He goes to the afterlife and everything. He wakes up to find he's chilling with Sitting Bull, who's like nah it wasn't your time to die yet. So the fact Sitting Bull confirms Spike will die in the final episode, means yeah, Spike is pretty much dead.

BUT -- okay now hear me out -- could this death in the final episode be a death to his previous life? The person he was in the syndicate? Now that he's extinguished the Red Dragons for good, is it not possible that its merely *that* life which has ended? That's the optimist in me saying that, but if it keeps me from staying up all night crying, I guess it'll have to do. Watanabe definitely wants to leave it up to the viewer, so whatever you think, I feel like there's validity to it.

WELL any anon, sorry for the fucking lecture - and believe me, I could've said MUCH, MUCH more - but I enjoyed this question. I always love talking about this show so please all you fuckers feel free to message me or send an ask about anything any time. I am really slow at replying because #life'sAbitch.

Love you all.

SY,SCB <3

[let-it-raines]

What a Lie We’re In (1/3)

All Emma was doing was trying to be nice. Her roommate didn’t have anywhere to go, so she invited him home for the holidays. She thought it would be fine and Killian would be a good buffer for a week at home with her parents. That is until her ex-boyfriend showed up, and while she was freaking out, Killian told him they were dating.

That would have been fine except her parents overheard it.

(A Christmas Fake Dating AU)

Rating: Mature 

a/n: What? A holiday fake dating story? So original, you say? No one has ever done it before? Especially not me. lol. Forget all of that, and let’s jump into this trope-a-palooza of a holiday story!

Big thank you to @resident-of-storybrooke for reading over this and convincing me that I still know how to write ❤️

ao3: | HERE |

-/-

“Did you eat all of my candy?”

Emma opens another cabinet, looking inside to the wine glasses and tumblers, before closing it. She’s been keeping her bag of candy in the cabinet where they keep their plates and bowls, hidden at the very top behind some reusable water bottles. Killian is a healthy eater, always stocking the fridge with fruits and vegetables and food she doesn’t think is actually real food, so she didn’t think she had to hide her junk food that well.

Hide it, yes. Hide it well, no.

Until now.

“What was that, love?”

Emma slams another cabinet closed and turns to look at Killian. He’s walking out of the bathroom, chest still damp, and only has a white towel wrapped around his waist. When he first moved into the apartment six months ago after Ruby abandoned Emma to go live with Dorothy (live with, get married to, same thing), Emma was taken aback by the lack of clothes wearing Killian partakes in. He’s an attractive man. She’s not blind. He goes to the gym as often as she does, but mostly, he spends a lot of time doing heavy lifting at his job as a contractor since he apparently likes to be hands-on, literally. His body is toned, and the son of the bitch knows it. He also knows he’s got the face to be able to get away with a lot of…well, a lot.

At first, it was all disconcerting, but now, he could walk around with his dick out and Emma wouldn’t care.

What she cares about is where her candy is. That’s the real priority. But she knows Killian will try to use his lack of clothes to distract her. Never worked in the past, not gonna work now, bud.

“My candy,” Emma repeats. “Where is it?”

He wipes behind his ear with the small towel in his hand. “I wouldn’t touch the stuff. You don’t like the good candy.”

“Well, my good candy has been moved, and we’re the only two people who live here.”

Emma places her hands on her hips, staring him down hoping he will somehow be intimidated by her stare and fess up to everything. He won’t be, but Emma can try. They both have their tactics.

Killian clicks his tongue. “What about the fellow you brought home last week?”

“Do you mean the plumber?”

“Was that who he was?”

“You know I don’t bring guys back here.” Emma moves from the counter and opens the fridge, taking out a handful of grapes from the fridge. She probably needs to eat some of them and not candy anyway. As she pops one into her mouth, that’s when it clicks. “Your girlfriend ate my candy, didn’t she?”

He scoffs and keeps drying his hair, but she sees the way he scratches his ear. Gotcha, Jones. “I don’t believe I have a girlfriend.”

“What? Tink break up with you because you wouldn’t let her eat dessert on your dates? Wait, I heard it. Don’t make it dirty.” Killian walks toward her, getting in her space, and she knows him well enough to know he wants her to flinch, to move, to stop her line of questioning. That’s exactly why she doesn’t want to. Emma pops another grape in her mouth. “Did you eat my candy? Was it your way of wallowing? It’s okay if you did. I’ll take another bag for payment.”

“For your information, Swan,” he whispers as he places his hand on her hip, “we are no longer seeing each other, but it was mutual. She did, however, eat your candy when she was last here. If you really want to know, we used it to – ”

“Stop,” Emma groans, pushing him away and running to the other side of the kitchen. “Nope. Don’t take that any further. Some things should be left private.”

His head tilts back as he laughs, the underside of his jaw black with stubble, and then he’s reaching into the cabinet above the fridge and tossing her the bag of sweets.

Oh.

“I hid it after Will and Rob found it while we were playing cards last night. Will nearly went through all your milk duds before I realized what was happening.” He raises his brow. “You have something you want to say to me?”

Emma knows what he’s aiming for, and she isn’t going to give it to him.

“Yeah,” Emma says, “you need a thicker towel. I don’t think you want people seeing you when you look like…that.” She nods her head down and then picks up a handful of Kit Kats. “I gotta go to work.”

“Off to die inside at your cubicle, love?”

“Oh, you know it.”

Emma grabs her purse and unlocks the door only to hear Killian speak. “It’s December. How do you still have Halloween candy leftover?”

Emma shrugs. “I bought one bag to pass out to kids, two bags for me.”

“Bloody brilliant.”

“I do what I can. See you tonight. I’ll try not to wake you up from your nap when I come in.”

“That would be the least you could do.”

Emma rolls her eyes, but then she’s officially walking out the door of her apartment and down toward the elevator, a Kit Kat bar hanging out of the side of her mouth.

The thing about Killian Jones is that he’s simple to her.

He likes his friends, his job, his rum, and his women. There’s not much else to him, and Emma is okay with that. While her last roommate was her best friend, this one doesn’t have to be. He can just be a guy who pays the bills so she can keep living in a nice place and who, on occasion, talks shit about other people with her while they binge watch TV.

That’s all she needs.

And all and all, Killian Jones is a…fine roommate. Yeah, fine is an accurate way to describe him at least eighty percent of the time.

Even if she does get annoyed when he brings his dates home. But that’s only because it’s always on the nights she plans on going to bed early, and the noise of other people being around keeps her from catching up on sleep.

Emma is not one to mess around on sleep.

But yeah, he’s fine. Annoying as hell over half the time, but he’s fine in the small dosages she sees him in. He works odd hours, isn’t always on the job, and she is stuck with regular hours in her office. There’s not a lot of glory in working HR for a small engineering company, but that’s what happens when you make dumbass decisions like Emma did. She’s lucky she has a stable job. She’ll try not to complain too much about it.

That’s what she tells herself every morning when she sits in her car and stares at the drab brick building.

Money. She has to make money.

And hey, she gets almost an entire week off for Christmas next week, and that’s fucking incredible, even if she does have to spend it in her hometown with her parents and their Hallmark-like attitude toward the holiday and the events it puts on. Her mom is a teacher at the elementary school and produces the Christmas play every year while her dad is a vet and outfits all his patients in little holiday bandanas and bows. He even has a tree in his office decorated with bone ornaments.

It’s…a lot. But it’s family, and as Emma stares at this building that’s sucking the life out of her, she can’t wait to have a change of pace and some home-cooked meals, even if there are as many downsides as upsides to going home. Her Kit Kat bars aren’t giving her the nutrients she knows she needs.

Being an adult is not all it’s cracked up to be sometimes, especially when going home for the holidays is seen as more of a burden than a gift with a fancy bow on top. It’s more like that turkey that dries up and falls to pieces in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Well, that and the squirrel crashing every decoration in the house.

Happy holidays.

-/-

“Nah, mate, I don’t have any plans.”

Emma quietly puts her keys down on the table next to her front door, laying her purse down with it, and she kicks her boots off until they topple over each other and lay in the middle of the hallway. She can hear Killian talking, and it gets even louder when she walks into the kitchen and turns on the coffee maker.

“No, no, well, you know, I rarely do anything, not since Liam.” There’s a pause as the coffee begins to percolate and Emma grabs another Kit Kat from her bag. “I went home with Milah once, but that was years ago…no, mate, it’s alright. I don’t mind staying here by myself…yeah, I think Emma is going home to her parents.”

And that’s when she realizes what Killian is talking about.

Christmas plans.

He doesn’t have any. Emma didn’t know that. She didn’t really bother to ask. She doesn’t bother to ask much of Killian. She picks up pieces here and there, as she’s sure he does to her, but they mind their own business.

He doesn’t have a family to go home to? She knows he’s originally from England, but still. There must be someone.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Killian says. “I promise if I need anything, I’ll let you know. Alright, bye Scarlet.”

The coffee finishes, and Emma picks the pot up and starts pouring, filling her large mug halfway before getting hazelnut creamer out of the fridge and making the coffee drinkable. Killian joins her in the kitchen and perches himself on one of their stools.

“Good day at work?” he asks.

“Eh, it was a day. You?”

He shrugs. “The same. I’m finishing up on this house tomorrow, hopefully, so tomorrow will be a good day.”

Emma nods and sips on her coffee as Killian taps his fingers on the counter, the rhythm the same as the song he usually hums when cooking. “So, when are you heading for Storybrooke?” he asks.

“Monday after work.” Killian nods and keeps tapping his fingers, and Emma, stupidly opens her mouth because despite what her exes have told her, she does apparently have a heart. “If you don’t have any plans and have off work, you’re welcome to come with me. My parents are always thrilled to welcome more people. Just be prepared, it’s like a Hallmark movie up there.”

His eyes widen, the blue lighting up, and his upper lip starts to quiver, laughter very obviously waiting to break through. Dammit, why the hell did she decide to be nice? This is going to give him all of the wrong ideas.

“Why, Swan,” he smirks, leaning forward and resting his chin in his propped-up hand, “are you inviting me home for the holidays with you? You’ve been harboring a crush this entire time, haven’t you? I can’t say I’m surprised. I see the way you look at me when I finish up in the bathroom. Don’t be ashamed of it. Most women find me attractive.”

Emma flicks Killian’s forehead, and really, he should be thrilled she didn’t dump her hot coffee on his lap like she wanted to.

“I was just trying to be nice. You didn’t have to be an asshole about it.” Emma rolls her eyes and turns on her heels to walk away. She is going to her room. She doesn’t have to put up with his shit. “Forget I even offered.”

“Wait, wait, Swan.” Emma’s shoulders tense, and she doesn’t turn around. “Are you serious about your offer?”

“I mean, it would have some conditions in that you are a slightly less obnoxious version of yourself, but yeah, if you don’t have anywhere else to go, you can come home with me.”

“I’d like that.” Emma twists around, trying to size him up, and for once, everything seems genuine. “I have a condition as well.”

Idiot. “What could your condition possibly be?”

He winks, and she already knows this is going to have her eyes rolling so far into the back of her head they get stuck there. “Don’t go falling in love with me.”

What a cheesy ass sarcastic line.

“In your dreams, Jones.”

What the hell has she gotten herself into? This is absolutely the last time she lets her conscience guilt her into doing something nice. Emma was already going to be miserable, but now she’s miserable with a buffer.

At least her mom will be happy getting to go into hostess mode.

-/-

In the days leading up to them leaving for Storybrooke, Emma convinces herself Killian is going to back out of the trip. He’ll realize this is awkward and not a good idea. They live together, sure, but they don’t actually know each other. They’re not close friends.

But Killian never backs out. Instead he asks her things like what the weather is like there, if her parents drink wine, if he needs to bring his own bedding. He asks a million questions a day, and they continue when they’re in her bug making the drive from Boston to Storybrooke. He wants to know what her parents do for a living, what their hobbies are, pretty much everything someone needs to know when they’re about to spend half a week in the house of strangers.

Strangers who don’t actually know they’re having someone stay at their house to awkwardly sit on the sidelines as Emma’s family celebrates the holidays and has their usual holiday arguments.

Yeah, Emma didn’t ever tell her parents Killian was coming. She knows her mom well enough to know the moment Emma mentioned bringing someone home, her mom would have stopped listening before Emma could explain that it was just her roommate. It would have been this whole big thing, and Emma knows she can handle explaining it better in person when she can snap her mom out of getting excited about nothing.

Plus, who doesn’t want a Christmas surprise?

(Emma doesn’t.)

After Killian stops being one of those obnoxious kids who never stops asking questions, they sit in relative silence for the car ride, music entertaining them, and little by little, cities fade away and more trees pop up, evergreen forests surrounding them. It’s always the sign for Emma that she’s leaving her life and going back to her old one.

That and the “Welcome to Storybrooke” sign.

Everything about the town is the same. The buildings are small and kind of dingy downtown, and when she passes Granny’s, she bets those onion rings are the same too. God, she hopes they are. This is probably the only thing that can get her through this week. She should have texted Ruby and made sure her grandmother hadn’t changed any of the recipes. If she had, Emma definitely would have stayed home.

People walk down the sidewalk all bundled up in their coats and scarves, saying hello and chatting with others they pass. It’s the opposite of Boston where Emma can go her entire day without having to say hello to someone, and a little shiver runs down her spine at the thought. She needs to get out of here as soon as possible and to the isolation of her parents’ farmhouse, even if that presents her a new set of problems.

Storybrooke, Maine is, decidedly, not Emma’s favorite place for a hell of a lot of different reasons.

Killian, though, seems to be taking it all in with the wonder and confusion of someone who has never lived in a small town like this and who is a bit shell-shocked.

Get used to it, buddy.

“Oh, hey, one more thing,” Emma sighs as she pulls up to her parents’ street a few minutes later. “My real last name is Nolan. I changed it after high school, so my parents’ names are Nolan. The whole ‘Swan’ thing is a sticky situation for them even though it’s my mom’s maiden name.”

Killian’s eyes narrow, and she has definitely shared too much about herself now. “Am I allowed to ask or…”

“No. just try not to call me ‘Swan’ around them.”

“Whatever your heart desires, love.”

Emma slows down as the road turns from paved to loose gravel leading up to their driveway. There are several cars parked alongside it, and either they now own extra cars or her parents have friends over. Great. Just what she needed. Other people around when she’s coming home and surprising her parents with a guest. At least Killian will likely be that buffer she keeps hoping he’ll be.

They get out of her car, and Emma pops the trunk for them to get their bags. Killian grabs the bigger ones despite her arguing with him about it, but she’s fine to just carry her purse and the bag with presents. Emma closes the trunk, slamming it shut, and squares her shoulders.

This is fine. This is all fine.

Until ten steps later, it’s not.

Her parents have this incredible wraparound porch with swings and rocking chairs, and sitting in one of them is Neal Cassidy.

What the hell?

She doesn’t…she can’t…why is he here? He has no right to be here, no business being here, and seeing his face makes her want to vomit.

It makes her want to cry, too, but Emma can’t give him the satisfaction.

Instead, she’d like to sink into the dirt and never emerge again.

“Shit,” Emma mumbles, stopping and turning toward Killian who is looking down at her with an arched brow. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“What is it?”

God, she can’t believe she has to tell this to him. It’s too many pieces of her past in too short a period of time. This isn’t something she ever wanted to talk about again and certainly not to Killian. She was really hoping she never had to see Neal’s face again.

Honestly, she never considered it to be a possibility.

If only.

“That guy sitting on my porch is an ex of mine. And I’m talking about a bad ex, not one of those who you can be friends with afterward.”

“What the bloody hell is he doing here then?” Killian looks over her head to look at Neal, but Emma grabs his hand and yanks on it until he looks at her. “What?”

“Don’t look at him,” she hisses. “I don’t know what he’s doing here, but I’m sure it has something to do with my parents. Just…I don’t know what to do.”

“Do we need to turn around?”

“No, no, that’s pathetic. Just…maybe he’s going to leave soon, and it’ll be a quick hello and then I never have to see his face again. Let’s get it over with.”

“If you’re sure, Sw – Emma.”

“I’m sure.”

She’s not sure at all. Mostly, she wants to take Killian’s suggestion and run far, far away.

Once more, Emma braces her shoulders, and she moves forward. If she stops and thinks too much, she’ll chicken out. It’s how she is. If she thinks about something for too long, it ruins every bit of courage she has. Now isn’t the moment for that when this week is one that makes her need courage.

Maybe, Emma realizes, she didn’t invite Killian here just to be nice. Maybe she needed that buffer to keep her old demons at bay, even if just barely, and that was her motivation all along.

That really makes her asshole of the year. Well, after Neal. She hasn’t seen him in years, but he still gets the asshole of the year award.

Neal sees her before she can get to the front steps. He rises from the rocking chair and moves toward her. He looks older now. He was always older than her, but she can actually see it now. There’s gray in his beard and more lines on his forehead. His features are similar, but she swears there’s an eeriness to his eyes and a lie to his smile. Maybe those were always there, but Emma imagines she was blind to it all when she loved him.

Amazing how opening her eyes to love blinded her to so much else.

“Emma? Is that you?”

No, jackass, it’s some other blonde woman walking into her parents house.

“Hi, Neal.” She forces a smile that she knows is awkward, but he was never good at reading her enough to know the difference between a real smile and a fake one. “What are you doing here?”

“You’ve just seen me for the first time in half a decade, and your first question is what I’m doing here? Nice to see you too, Ems.”

It’s illegal to murder, Emma, she reminds herself. You don’t want to end up in jail because of him.

“It’s my parents’ house. I’m supposed to be here. You’re not. So, again, what are you doing here?”

He shrugs and ignores her. “Who’s this?”

Emma turns to Killian who is staring ahead, his jaw clenched, and he speaks before she gets a chance to. “Killian Jones,” he begins, dropping a bag and reaching forward to shake Neal’s hand, “Emma’s boyfriend.”

Emma nearly chokes on her own air and possibly her own lungs and whatever else is down there, and she’s stuck. Her brain and her feet and especially her mouth are all stuck. What the hell is he doing?

“Emma’s boyfriend,” Neal repeats, his voice incredulous like the fact that she could have a boyfriend is ludicrous to him. “Really?”

“For awhile now,” Killian lies. Wow. Has he always been this good of a liar? “It’s nice to meet you, but I think Emma and I need to get inside and put our stuff away. It’s been a long drive.”

Neal nods, but Emma catches his eyes glance over at her. What was that? “I understand. I need to get my fiancée from inside, but then we’ll be on our way.”

Fiancée?

Neal has a fiancée? Who is in her parents’ house?

What kind of upside down hell has she walked into and how does she reverse time and get back to the place where things are normal?

“Nice seeing you,” Emma lies, but Neal is already walking inside, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him as if it’s his house to go into. She quickly turns to Killian and hopes her face conveys the “what the hell” look she’s going for. And in case it doesn’t, she hisses, “what the fuck was that?”

“Forgive me, love, but you obviously didn’t want to see that man, and I figured there wouldn’t be any harm in saying that. You weren’t planning on ever seeing him again, aye?”

“Not if I can help it.”

“So what’s the harm in him thinking you have a devilishly handsome new boyfriend?”

Emma rolls her eyes, ready to take the piss out of him, when her mother comes running out the front door.

“Emma, you brought a boyfriend home?”

Well, that’s the harm, Jones.

-/-

Emma tries explaining to her parents that Killian isn’t really her boyfriend, that he’s just her roommate who came home with her because he doesn’t have any family, but she never really gets the chance with Neal still hanging around. That would be mortifying, so she rolls with it, hoping that she can clear it all up sooner rather than later.

But Neal never seems to leave.

His fiancée, Tamara, apparently teaches with Emma’s mom, and from the looks of it, they’re great friends. She can’t imagine any other reason why her parents would let Neal Cassidy in their house, but then again, they have always been great at doing the exact opposite of what’s good for her. It’s torture, and as the night goes on, it seems like it’s never going to end.

When are they going to leave?

When can she stop listening to Killian falsify their life?

She’s got to say that he’s fantastic at taking truths and turning them into lies. According to him, they met when he became her roommate (true) and got to know each other as friends first (eh, a half-truth). Then, slowly, feelings started to develop in the little moments, and they decided to give their relationship a chance (unequivocally false).

He’s got this uncanny ability to make everything feel…not ridiculous. She doesn’t know the word she’s searching for, but she’s sure as hell that Killian could find it and incorporate it into a story to make everyone here think they’re in love.

Emma has no clue how they’re going to get out of this without her parents being heartbroken because Emma can see the hope and happiness in her mom’s eyes. She’s over the moon. Her dad, however, doesn’t seem to be.

Of course this is how it goes. Her mom is thrilled because she’s not a spinster, and her dad is upset because she’s not a spinster.

“So what do you do, Killian?” he asks. “You need a roommate apparently.”

“Dad,” Emma hisses, wanting to sink into the couch, especially because she knows she’s the one who needs the roommate and not Killian. “Don’t.”

“What? I’m not allowed to ask about the man who my daughter is dating?”

“You are, but you’re not allowed to interrogate him.”

Killian places his hand over Emma’s on her thigh, and God, this really is the worst night. Why do people have to go home to family on the holidays? At least she didn’t automatically flinch at the feeling of Killian’s hand on hers.

“I’m a contractor,” Killian tells her dad. “I used to work with my brother. It’s his business, but I’m the head on projects now. It’s hard and unpredictable sometimes when my job is to make it predictable, but it’s good work. There’s a lot of good new housing popping up in the neighborhoods outside of Boston. Beautiful new construction.”

“What happened to your brother?” her mom asks.

Killian’s hand tightens over hers while his other hand scratches behind his ear. “Liam passed last year. Car accident.”

Mary Margaret places her hands over her chest while Neal and Tamara look at each other, obviously ready to go. Emma, meanwhile, tries not to act shocked. She should know this. She should know that he had a brother who died. She’s heard him talk about Liam before, but she thought…she thought he was alive, just that he lived really, really far away or something like that.

“I’m so sorry, Killian,” Mary Margaret sighs.

“Thank you, Ms. Nolan.”

Silence falls in the room, and it feels like a lot of her time in high school when she got caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing. At least now she can have alcohol or drive away. One or the other, though, obviously.

Or she can go back to that sinking into the ground thing. That seemed like a good idea.

“Oh, would you look at the time,” Tamara sighs with a clap of her hands. “Honey, we need to go.”

“Won’t you stay for dinner?” Mary Margaret asks.

What the hell, Mom?

“We really have to go,” Tamara insists. “It was nice seeing you guys, though.”

“Oh, it was wonderful seeing you, sweetie. Good luck in New York. You’re going to be great at your new job.” Mary Margaret hugs Tamara. “Nice seeing you as well, Neal. You’ll fit right in, but I know your dad will miss you.”

Emma is so busy trying to take in all of this brand new information that she doesn’t hear the rest of the conversation. Through blurred vision, she sees her mom hug Neal, and yeah, Emma wants to go home. She wants to go back to her apartment where she doesn’t have to put up with this kind of shit.

Where there’s no Neal and his fiancée and especially where her mom isn’t hugging her asshole of an ex and treating him like he’s a good person.

There’s a squeeze on her hand and suddenly, Killian’s fingers are wrapping around hers. That’s when everything snaps back, and she realizes Neal is telling her goodbye.

“Yeah, bye,” Emma mutters, putting on that fake smile again.

“Maybe we could go for lunch while I’m still in town,” he suggests.

Emma bites her tongue to keep from scoffing, but she can’t help the words that come out of her mouth. “Yeah, that’s not happening. Have fun in New York.”

Neal looks like a wounded puppy when Emma manages to look at him, but she doesn’t care. He shouldn’t have had the audacity to ask her in the first place, not after everything he’s done.

Happy holidays to them all.

“Emma,” Mary Margaret hisses as soon as the front door has shut and Neal and Tamara are gone, “that was so rude of you! You can go to lunch with Neal.”

“Oh my God, Mom,” Emma groans, letting go of Killian’s hand and standing up. “I am twenty-eight years old. I’m not going to go to lunch with the man who ruined my life because you don’t like being rude. Just…let’s eat dinner, and you guys can tell me what we have planned for this week. Killian is thrilled to go to the play. I told him all about it.”

“Emma, I still don’t think – ”

“Come on, Mary Margaret,” David sighs as he claps his hand on her shoulder. “Let’s get these two dinner. They had a long drive, and I’m sure they’re starving. You like ham, Jones?”

“Love it,” Killian says as he stands from the couch. “Can I help with anything?”

“You can get a wine bottle from the rack.”

They’re all going to need it. Or at least Emma is going to.

Dinner is, well, awkward, which Emma expected, but she expected the usual awkwardness of having dinner with her parents after going a year without seeing them. This is an entire other level. Killian tries to ease it. He’s put on his most charming smile, his accent coming through thicker with each story he tells, and while her Dad seems put out, her mom is every bit as charmed by him as Emma would expect.

That makes it all fine and good until Emma’s reminded that her parents think Killian is her boyfriend, and his place would go down in flames if she told the truth now.

As much as she would like to spite her mom, that is the last thing she needs.

“So, Killian, you can stay in Emma’s room,” her mom says as they finish up dinner. “I’d have you stay in the guest room, but it’s currently filled with props and costumes for the play. But you're both adults. Who are we to keep you apart at night?”

“The couch would be fine,” Killian insists, holding his hands up.

“Nonsense, you are a guest here. You need to be comfortable. Let’s get you all settled and ready for bed.”

It’s almost like she’s in a trance as her mom guides them up the stairs to Emma’s old room. She vaguely hears her tell stories of different pictures hung on the wall by the staircase, but she doesn’t really notice. Instead, she hangs back with her dad who does not look thrilled at the whole situation.

For some reason that offends Emma. As far as her dad knows, she’s brought a man home for Christmas. A man who she loves enough to bring home, which is not all sunshine and roses for her. Once again, she’s jealous of the people who go home for the holidays and know it’s going to be a happy time.

“You know, you don’t have to act like I’m sixteen,” she tells her dad. “I live with this man. I think it’s okay for us to share a bedroom here for the week.”

“What makes you think I’m not happy about this. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

Emma stops at the landing and turns to her Dad, crossing her arms over her chest and staring him down. Or up. She forgot how much taller her dad is than her.

“Try a little harder to make that believable.”

David laughs and leans forward to kiss her forehead. “Welcome home, kid. I’m glad you and Killian are here.”

-/-

-/-

Tag list (You can be taken off or added at any time): @qualitycoffeethings @marrtinski @klynn-stormz @scarletslippers @elizabeethan @jrob64 @snowbellewells @therealstartraveller776 @thejollyroger-writer @inth-trees @galaxyzxstark @galadriel26 @idristardis @karenfrommisthaven @teamhook @spartanguard @searchingwardrobes @jamif @shireness-says @ultimiflos @onepunintendid @bluewildcatfanatic @superchocovian @killianswannn @carpedzem @captainkillianswanjones @mayquita @mariakov81 @jennjenn615​ @onceuponaprincessworld​ @a-faekindagirl​ @scientificapricot​ @xellewoods​ @ultraluckycatnd​ @stahlop​ @kmomof4​ @tiganasummertree​ @singersdd​ @tornadoamy​ @cluttermind​ @lfh1226-linda @andiirivera​ @itsfabianadocarmo​ @captain-emmajones​ @ilovemesomekillianjones​ @capthamm​

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Erased

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

I was thinking about how to follow up the last chapter, and I thought, well, we need to wrap up some details. Are the kids back? What happened with Anti? Stuff like that. Then I decided, the boys should start to find out more about Distorter. They’re smart, they can figure it out. And maybe a certain lady can help, as she’s more involved than anyone thinks ;) Anyway it’s a bit shorter than my last few stories, but those were already pretty long, so this is about average...for me. Which is still long lol. Enjoy ^-^

More of this AU found here

JJ peered through the curtained window at the street. When he didn’t see anything, he checked his phone. No messages from anyone.

“I know you’re nervous,” Marvin said from his spot in his usual armchair. “But you’re just workin’ yourself into a fit. Sit down, at least.”

I can’t, JJ signed. Though he was still learning, that was a phrase he was sure of.

“Why? Because ye’ll want to stand up again? Jus’ let me put Mister on your lap, he’ll stop you from ever standing again.” This was clear as Mr. Fluffington was currently spread out across Marvin’s lap. He’d been there for about an hour, and showed no signs of moving. It didn’t help that Marvin kept petting him.

Jameson picked up the notebook and pen he’d left on the nearby table. You can’t tell me you’re not worried about Anti, he wrote. It’s been two hours.

“Of course I am. But if I t’ink about it, I-I’ll, um...freak out, as y’say.” Indeed, Marvin looked a bit paler just talking about it. He gave Fluffington a few scratches behind the ear, distracting himself. “Anti’s tough.”

That was true, but Jameson still couldn’t sit down. He started to write out I was thinking about going to find him, but only got halfway when the doorbell suddenly rang. JJ frowned, and scribbled out his sentence to instead write Do you think that could be him?

“Wouldn’ be the first time one o’the others turned up sudd’nly,” Marvin said.

I’ll go answer, see if it is.

JJ tucked the notebook under his arm and headed over to the door. When the doorbell rang again, he hurried to open it. At first, he thought that the man standing on the doorstep was Anti. His face was pretty similar, and the clothes looked sort of like something Anti would wear on a casual day. But he quickly realized  he wasn’t the same. Anti only had a green streak in his hair, it wasn’t all dyed bright green. And the man didn’t have Anti’s heterochromia.

The man blinked, then laughed. “Wow, I am just running into all my clones today, aren’t I? Hey nice mustache.”

After a moment, JJ flipped to a new note page and wrote down his response, showing it to the man. Can I help you?

“Actually, I think I can help you. My friend Sam, uh...hang on.” He patted his jacket, and after a bit a green glowing ball flew out of one of the pockets. Sam. “Here they are. They say that they know you? They also said that you’re a whole bunch of people who looked like me, but man, I was not expecting how much you looked like me.”

You know Sam? JJ asked, surprised. And they somehow told you about us?

“Yeah, the five of you. Me and Sam, we’re connected, ha.” The man tapped the side of his head. “Anyway, my name’s Jack. Jack McLoughlin. Sam says your name is Jameson?”

JJ nodded. It’s nice to meet you Jack. He glanced back to see Marvin poking his head into the hallway, looking a bit confused, Fluffington winding around his ankles and cane. Briefly gesturing that everything was okay, he turned back to Jack. But I don’t understand. Can you communicate with Sam, somehow? Telepathically?

“Uh, yeah, basically.” Jack nodded. “Anyway, back to the point. I ran into Sam and your friend Anti in the park. He was, uh, kinda out of it. I had to help him get home. Sam says he lost his phone, and that you guys would be worried about him, so I thought I’d tell you that he’s home and he’s okay.”

Jameson practically wilted with relief. Thank you so much. Anti’s fine? He’s unhurt?

“Other than being confused and a bit tired, yeah, he’s fine,” Jack confirmed.

That’s so good to hear. Thank you again.

“Hey no problem. A friend of Sam is a friend of mine,” Jack said with a smile.

JJ chuckled a bit, coughing at the end. Hey, if you’re a friend of Sam’s, I was wondering something. Would you like to meet up with us sometime? I’d love to hear more about you and Sam.

“Oh yeah, sure, I’ll be in town for a while. Hang on.” Jack reached into his pocket and rummaged around while Sam sat on his shoulder. After a few seconds, he grabbed his wallet, opening it up and taking a card out. “Here, my number’s on this. Call or text me whenever you want to meet up. Maybe after your friend Anti is better.”

Jameson signed Thank you—again, one of the few signs he was really confident on—and took the card. It was a small business card, reading ‘Jack William McLoughlin: Drummer for Hire’ followed by a phone number and email address. I’ll text you some other time.

“Great, I’ll keep an eye out for it.” Jack nodded, adjusting his glasses. “Anyway, be seeing you.” As he turned to leave, Sam waved their tail in a goodbye. JJ waved back, then closed the front door.

“You asked him to a meetup, didn’ ye?” Marvin asked the instant the door was closed. “Jems, have I ever told you t’at you gather friends the same way others gather cool rocks off the side o’the road?”

JJ laughed a bit—less than before, just to save his voice. But then he quickly turned to more serious matters. Did you hear him say that Anti’s back?

“Yeah.” Marvin nodded. “And t’at he lost his phone. It’s good to hear, t’ough.”

Very good. Do you think that means the kids are okay?

“Well it didn’ sound like t’is Jack fellow saw them. One moment, I’ll call Jackie t’see if Michelle arrived home.” Marvin turned around and headed back into the living room, where he left his phone. Jameson followed him, and Mr. Fluffington trailed after them both.

———————

“—and then Rama called me to get down here right now,” Jackie said. “So I drove on down and—and yeah! They’re here!”

He was sitting in the living room of Rama’s house—technically his, though he hadn’t been living there for a while. Over by the wall, Rama was kneeling in front of Will, Anti’s son, wiping his face with a wet dishrag. Michelle was lying on top of Jackie’s legs, on her stomach with her feet in the air as she messed with the tassels of one of the throw pillows. He was still sort of in awe at the kids just...being there. After weeks, they were back in the house. He combed his daughter’s hair earlier and kept crying that she was there.

“Oh t’ank god,” Marvin said, on the other end of the phone call. He’d put the phone on speaker, and Jackie could hear Jameson clapping excitedly. “T’ey’re alrigh’? Both o’t’em?”

“Your accent’s gotten stronger,” Jackie noted teasingly.

“Well ‘m happy for you!” Marvin said.

“Ha! I know, right?! It’s like—like—wow, you know?” Jackie himself was so happy he had to wave his hands around to get rid of the excess energy. “Anyway, they’re both alright. They were hungry and a bit messy, but not more so than, like, at the end of a busy day. Thank every god in every faith for that, I am not kidding. You say this Jack guy told you Anti was alright?”

“Yea, he said he walked him back to his flat,” Marvin explained. “Anot’er guy who looks like us. T’at makes six.”

“Y’know they say there are seven people in the world who look the same at any given time.”

“Great, we jus’ need one more. Anyway he gave Jems his phone number, so ye can bet we’ll be seein’ him again.”

Jackie laughed.

“Hey Jackieboy?” Rama called, standing up. “I’m going to drive Will back home. Are you okay staying here for a while?”

“Yeah,” Jackie said, lowering the phone. “It’s only gonna be like twenty minutes.”

“Alright. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

“I will.”

Will grabbed Rama’s hand. “Bye, Uncle Jackie. Bye, Michelle!”

“Byyyyye!” Michelle waved vigorously with both hands. Jackie laughed again, then joined in, waving until Rama and Will left through the front door.

“Rama’s taking Will back to Anti’s now,” Jackie said into the phone.

“Great. Anti’ll be so glad.”

“He really will.” Jackie paused as Michelle adjusted position, sitting up and accidentally elbowing his stomach. She yawned. Despite it being shortly after noon, she was clearly tired as she leaned against Jackie’s side. “Hey, I’ll call you back, okay?”

“Okay. Bye, Jackie. Jems says goodbye, too.”

“Bye, guys.” Jackie hung up the phone, setting it down on the end table nearby. He wrapped an arm around Michelle, and she took the opportunity to snuggle closer. The smile on his face refused to fade. 

———————

Anti opened the front door to his apartment, rubbing his eyes. “Rama?” he asked. “Sorry, I was sleeping, what’s—” Then he glanced down. And froze. “Will?”

“Hi, Dad.” Will looked strangely nervous, as if he was worried he was going to get in trouble.

“He and Michelle just showed up!” Rama said cheerfully. “They opened the door to the house and walked right in! Don’t worry, he’s fine, I checked. I’ve been trying to call you, but you haven’t be answering—”

“Will! Thank fucking god!” Anti leaned down and wrapped his son in a tight hug. “I was so worried, oh my god—you’re here! You’re okay! Oh my god. Oh my god.”

“Sorry, Dad,” Will said, still sounding oddly guilty. “Michelle and me thought—the guy in the car looked like you—”

“It’s okay, Will, it’s not your fault,” Anti murmured. “It’s not your fault at all. I’m just...so happy you’re okay. I-if something happened to you I-I-I—oh my god.” He squeezed his eyes shut against the flow of tears. “Thanks for dropping him off, Rama.”

“No problem,” Rama said, backing up. “I’ll leave you two to it, okay? See you later.” They turned and disappeared down the hall.

“So...you’re not mad?” Will asked.

Anti pulled back. “Will, why would I ever be mad at you? Someone tricked you.”

“I...don’t know.” Will looked relieved. “I-I just—I don’t know!”  His eyes started to fill with tears as well. “I just—Dad!” And then he jumped forward for another hug.

“It’s okay, bud.” Anti stood up, taking Will with him even though the boy was really too big to be carried. “It’s all over now.” And he closed the apartment door.

———————

“So they really just showed up?”

“Well I mean I wasn’t there, but from what Rama’s told me, yeah, basically.”

A few days later, Jackie and Anti were sitting in a police station. Jackie had brought up that the detectives working on the kids’ disappearances would want to know they were back, and Anti reluctantly agreed to let him call them. He probably wouldn’t have agreed if he’d known the detectives would want the kids to come down to the station so they could talk with them. When Jackie told him that, he refused at first. But somehow, here he was now, sitting on a bench next to Jackie and glaring at any cops that passed by. They were waiting outside the room where one of the detectives and a child psychologist were talking to the kids, and he kept glancing at the door.

“They’re fine, Anti,” Jackie said, catching his twentieth glance. “They’ll be out soon.”

“They should’ve let us stay with them,” Anti muttered. “I don’t like being kicked out of places.”

“I mean, I can see where they’re coming from logically,” Jackie relented. “What if the kids say something different while their parents are gone? But I think it’s a bit flawed in practice.” He paused. “Still, that’s no reason to threaten to ‘cut a bitch.’”

“I didn’t say that!” Anti protested.

“No, but you wanted to. The only reason you didn’t was because Will and Michelle were in the room.” Jackie shrugged. “Kid-friendly threats are still threats, though, and I really don’t think you should direct those towards cops.”

“Fucking...take me away from my kid,” Anti muttered, sinking lower in the seat. He hesitated. “Do you think there are things the kids are keeping from us? Do you think they don’t trust us?”

“Of course they do,” Jackie reassured him. “The detectives just want to cover every possibility. I don’t like being away from them either. Will knows he can tell you anything.”

Anti rubbed his eyes. “I dunno. I mean, I never told my mom anything.”

“Well, that’s different. Clearly, you’re a better parent than her,” Jackie laughed.

He meant it jokingly, but Anti went really quiet. “Hope so,” he said, too quietly for Jackie to hear.

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

Jackie looked at him skeptically, but decided to move on. “And...you still don’t remember what happened when you went to meet him?” he whispered.

Anti shook his head. “Nothing. It’s all a blank after he said he wanted something from me. Which is...fucking terrifying, honestly. Did I agree to something? If I did, what was it? I don’t like not knowing.”

“We can...figure it out,” Jackie said slowly, looking a bit pale despite his optimistic words.

Anti nodded. “Oh, I’ll tell you something I do remember, though. You know that Stacy lady?”

“Yeah?”

“I ran into her on the way. She had to give me a ride.” Anti leaned a bit closer to Jackie. “She’s connected to all this.”

The door to the room opened, and Michelle ran out. “Hi Dad!” she shouted, jumping into Jackie’s lap, who gave Anti a look of ‘we’ll talk about this later.’ “We can get ice cream now, right?”

Jackie laughed. “Oh man, I did promise that, didn’t I?”

Will walked out next, then that detective, Laurens.

“Hey, bud.” Anti stood up and walked over to him. “Did it go okay?”

“Yeah,” Will nodded. “It was pretty boring.”

Anti breathed out, relieved to see that Will wasn’t affected by the talk with the detective. That probably meant it wasn’t too upsetting. “Well that sucks.”

“It did.”

“It sounds like the two of them really did forget everything that happened,” Detective Laurens explained. “Odd, but not unusual. It could be a trauma response.” Or perhaps the work of a creature that could influence minds, but neither Jackie nor Anti were going to say that out loud.

“It’s just like a fast forward!” Michelle said. “Like we got in the car, then boop! We were standing outside home and we walked up and Ren told us it was two weeks later!”

“Yeah, it was weird,” Will agreed. “Do we have to make up school?”

“I don’t know,” Anti said. “We’ll have to ask the school about that. Hopefully not.”

“So can we go now, detective?” Jackie asked.

“Yes, go ahead,” Detective Laurens nodded. “If any of you remember anything, or come by any new information, please let us know. You already have our numbers.”

“Marvelous.” Anti rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’ll call the guys who shoved me out of the room when my son was emotional.”

“They didn’t shove you, Dad,” Will corrected. “Jackie pulled you.”

“Well. It’s the principle of the matter.”

“The what?”

“The, uh...I don’t know how to explain right now. Ask me again later, once we’re home.”

Will nodded, a determined look in his little eyes saying that he’ll definitely be doing that.

“If we can go, then let’s go,” Jackie said. “And get that ice cream we promised!”

“Whooo!” Michelle threw her hands in the air and waved them around. “Carry me!”

“Alright, fine, but just to the car.” Jackie bent over and picked Michelle up, then looked to Anti. He gestured towards the exit with his head. Anti nodded, looking down at Will in turn. Will didn’t request a ride, but he did grab Anti’s hand, holding it tight as the group headed out.

———————

Anti, Jackie said you were going to say something in the station but got cut off. What was it?

Yea he was gonna say something about Stacy. It sounded important

Anti leaned back in his desk chair, watching the messages from JJ and Jackie pop up in the group chat. Oh right I forgot, he typed.

Anti you better not be saying bad things about her, Schneep warned. She is a very nice lady.

Why is everyone friends with her except me??? Anti asked.

Marvin says “Because you hate people”, JJ replied.

Anti snorted. It wasn’t that he didn’t like people. It was that he didn’t trust most of them. But that was beside the point. Yeah anyway Stacy picked me up and gave me a ride to the address because I was almost late. I thought it was weird she knew where she was going so i asked her about it and it turns out you know the family that died in that house? The mom was her sister and the kids were her niece and nephew.

Quiet for a moment. And then everyone started typing at once.

I am sorry but WHAT. WHY. HOW.

IS THAT WHY SHE WAS THERE TO PICK ME UP THAT DAY?!?!

Marvin just made the loudest “OHHHHH” of realization but I have to say: WHAT?!

Yeah exactly!!! Anti sent. Its a hell of a coincidence right? Unless its not.

What are you implying? Jackie asked.

Its weird that Distorter wanted to meet me THERE, right? Almost like...he has a connection to it.

Schneep was the first to put the pieces together. Are you saying he might have been the father from that case?

Its a possibility. Stacy also said that she was sticking around because of us. Maybe some supernatural shit is telling her weare involved.

But youre right, thays a hell of a coincidence, Jackie said. *thats

We need to confirm this, JJ said. Do you think Stacy would object to meeting with us if I asked her? Told her it was related to Anti’s meeting and we need to know more about her family?

I dunno, Anti said. It’s worth a shot.

———————

The next day, all five of them were crowded into a booth in a small diner called the Cup and Platter. They were waiting for Stacy to arrive. JJ had contacted her and asked her for information, as he said he would, and her reply was essentially “only if you tell me why.” After a brief discussion, they agreed to tell her the bare minimum, and Stacy had said that she’d be meeting them here early in the morning.

So now they were sitting, waiting anxiously. Jackie had ordered a plate of fries for the group but he was the only one eating from it. JJ was texting on his phone, arranging details for a show with his stage manager Darla. Schneep stared out the window, watching for Stacy. And Marvin was slowly shredding the napkins for stimulation. He looked over at Anti. “Y’keep glarin’ at that boy, Anti. What’re you doin’?”

“Hm?” Anti looked away from his constant staring at the teenaged employee behind the counter. “Nothing.”

“D’you know him?”

“No.”

“Been here before?”

“Once.” 

The engaging conversation was interrupted by Schneep saying, “Oh there she is! She’s coming inside now.”

The door opened, and Stacy stepped into the diner, looking out of place in her dress pants and matching blue jacket. She quickly caught sight of the group and walked over, grabbing a chair from a nearby table and bringing it over to the booth to sit down. “Alright, let’s get to the point,” she said, her tone all business. “Since you’re so interested in my family, I brought this.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a photograph, slapping it down on the table.

The photo showed five people standing in front of a house’s front door: three adults and two kids. One was Stacy herself, standing a bit to the side, her hair longer and clearly younger. Next to her was another woman, taller and with long brown curls, a big smile on her face. She didn’t look too much like Stacy on her own, but when they were standing next to each other like this, the familial resemblance was clear, especially in the hair texture and shape of the eyes. The two kids stood close to each other. The girl looked older, with darker brown hair, while the boy had blonde curls.

“Aw, they were so cute,” Jackie couldn’t help but gush. But then his smile faded. “Um...sorry.”

“It’s fine. They were really cute, you’re right.” Stacy sighed. “That’s Isabelle and Trevor. They were eight and six. Not in the picture, that’s when they were five and three, but when they...you know.”

“And that is your sister?” Schneep asked, pointing to the other woman in the photo.

“Yeah, that’s Roxy. She was younger than me.”

“You’re standing in front of the house on Aspen Street,” Anti muttered. “But when it was actually repaired and shit.”

Stacy nodded. “Yeah. This was the year after they moved in. Everything was great, as you can see.” She gestured vaguely at the happy smiles on everyone’s faces. “Now, please tell me.” She leaned forward, fists clenched. At first she seemed angry, but her voice...the tone of her voice was laden with strange desperation. “Please tell me what’s going on with you and my family.”

The boys glanced at each other. We’re very sorry for what happened, JJ wrote. But we think the story of your family might be important for things that are happening to us.

“Happening to you?” Stacy repeated.

“Can I say somet’ing?” Marvin suddenly asked. “We all noticed the mam and the kids. None of us talked about the dad.”

Almost in unison, they all looked back down at the photograph.

“T’at’s strange, isn’ it? Because isn’ t’at what we think is important?”

“What do you mean?” Jackie asked. “He’s just a guy.”

Marvin stared at him. “Tell me what he looks like.”

“He’s...uh, he’s...” Jackie’s voice slowly faded away. “Uh...”

“Well he looks normal,” Anti took over.

“How so?” Marvin prodded. “Is he taller or shorter t’an Stacy and her sister? By how much?”

“He’s—they’re uh—ta—shor—I, um...shit.” Anti shook his head slowly.

“What color is his hair? Or his eyes?”

The others were all thoroughly confused by now, staring at the picture in puzzled silence. So Marvin looked over at Stacy. “He was your brother-in-law, d’you know any of t’is?”

“O—of course I know!” Stacy spluttered. “This is ridiculous! We’re looking right at a picture of him!”

“But it’s not helpin’,” Marvin pointed out. “Stacy. May I ask you somet’ing?” He paused. “What was his name?”

“His name was...” The frustration faded away from her expression. “Um...i-it was...was...” Stacy trailed off, her eyes widening in the horror of realization. “I don’t...know.”

“Exactly. T’at’s strange, isn’ it?” Marvin leaned back in his seat. “D’you know who else we couldn’ describe, even while lookin’ at him?”

“No,” Jackie whispered.

“But—h-he’s just a guy!” Anti protested. “Look at him! He’s clearly human!”

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘human’?” Stacy asked. 

The group looked at each other. And they nodded. Jameson waved to get Stacy’s attention, then snapped his fingers. A flurry of blue sparkles flew away from his fingers.

“What?!” Stacy gasped. Then she laughed, a bit hysterically. “Oh, very funny. You all decided to prank me.” She looked around at the serious faces. “Joke’s over. It’s not cool to keep with it after you’ve been had.”

If you want me to prove my magic, request something, Jameson wrote.

“Request—okay, fine.” Stacy set her purse on the table. “Make it float.”

Jameson looked a bit worried, but nodded. He leaned forward, staring at the purse intently with his palms flat on the table. A thin sheet of ice covered the surface around them. Then, slowly, the purse wobbled into the air before dropping. Levitation is hard for me, Jameson explained. But I assure you. I am a magician with REAL magic. His eyes lit up blue.

Stacy just gaped.

“Magic exists,” Jackie stated. “I know, it’s crazy.”

“I didn’t believe it either,” Anti muttered.

“But it is true,” Schneep added. “And there is something...some sort of magic creature hunting us.”

They took turns giving Stacy the gist of what Distorter was. They didn’t explain specifically what he did to them, just that he wanted to hurt them. And that he seemed to have some sort of mind abilities. Stacy sat, dumbfounded, at all of this. Until finally, she took a deep breath. “W-well...if it wasn’t that—that I couldn’t remember his name...” she said slowly, picking up her purse. “Or describe him in this picture while—while looking at him, then I would...wouldn’t believe you. But...now I do.” She shook her head. “A-and you think that this Distorter is Roxy’s husband?”

“Well, we do now,” Anti commented. “But the question is—how? And why? What happened to him?”

“I don’t know.” All Stacy could do was shake her head again. “I mean—didn’t he die? I went to the funeral.”

I hate to be morbid, but do you remember seeing his body? JJ asked tentatively.

“...no,” Stacy whispered. “I-I remember R—th-the others, but...not him.”

“Honestly he kind of looks like a corpse already,” Jackie said. “With black eyes. And that rictus grin.” He shuddered. “And the blood.”

“I...don’t know what to tell you,” Stacy continued. “I mean, my brother-in-law. He was...as you keep saying, just a guy. Not the best put together, and I don’t think he and Roxy should’ve gotten married, but he was alright. Cheerful. Good with kids.”

“A murderer,” Anti said bluntly.

Schneep reached over and swatted him.

“It was such a shock to hear that,” Stacy said dazedly. “I mean, nobody would’ve thought...something must’ve happened to him. Maybe, now that I’m hearing this from you...maybe something supernatural?” She was still reluctant to say it. “But look. Surely, if it was such a big case over here, the police would have records? Can you check those out, or something?”

“I don’t think we’re able to—”  Jackie started to say.

“I can handle that,” Schneep interrupted.

The others paused for just a moment. Then, after having a silent debate, they decided not to let Stacy in on that particular secret.

Luckily, she didn’t ask. “Well in that case, that’s...that’s probably the best thing to do.” She paused. “Can you, um...tell me what you find out?”

“We’ll make a group text with you,” Anti muttered.

“He mean o’course we will,” Marvin said.

“Great.” Stacy’s expression was an odd mix of relief, confusion, and dread. “I’d...like to know what really happened.”

So would we, JJ said.

If they knew the story through all this distortion, if they could finally get a clear picture of what exactly was going on, maybe they’d be able to figure out how to stop it.

———————

It was...worryingly easy to get into the police station. Most detectives and plain clothes officers didn’t even wear their badges, so all Schneep had to do was dress professionally and act like he belonged. It was surprising how many times doing something like this had gotten him into areas he shouldn’t be in. Not just as a vigilante, either. One time he was visiting Jackie during his work hours at the hospital, and on the way out he’d accidentally grabbed Jackie’s spare white coat instead of his own. He got a bit lost, and quickly realized that nobody had stopped him from going into staff areas, simply because he was dressed correctly and didn’t act suspicious.

The same principle applied here. Schneep walked into the station shortly before it closed to the public, bringing in a briefcase and a manila folder full of papers. The papers themselves weren’t much, just random words typed up on pages and then printed out on white sheets. They wouldn’t pass a closer inspection, but from farther away, they looked sufficiently official. He found the door to the records room for past cases, and leaned against the wall next to it, looking through the papers as if they were very important records. It wasn’t long before someone came over to unlock the door and head inside. At that moment, he put the papers back in the folder and slipped in right behind them.

The records room was extensive. Shelves of boxes, all labelled with dates and types of crimes. It was pretty big, too. Schneep quickly headed to the back, pretending to look for the right box to put his folder into. The person who’d let him in—also professionally-dressed, without a badge in sight but likely a detective—paid him no mind, and headed for a shelf right by the door.

Now comes the tricky part. Schneep knew that the hard copies of the cases weren’t supposed to be taken out of the station. That was what the online database was for. They also weren’t supposed to be copied. The station didn’t even have a copier, or at least not one that he saw on the way in. So he had two options: take the whole folder and hide it in the briefcase, or take pictures of the contents with his phone and print those pictures out later. Which one would he do? It depended on how big the file was, honestly.

With the appropriate labels on the boxes, he found his way to the shelves for past homicide cases. Anti had texted him the date of the Aspen Street incident—April, five years ago, almost six—so Schneep quickly found the correct box. “Da bist du ja,” he muttered, pulling it off the shelf to the floor.

The files inside were all colored green, tabs sticking out with identifying labels. After a bit of shuffling, Schneep found one with “68 Aspen St” written on it, along with the date. He quickly pulled it out. This file...was rather thin. And when he opened it, there were only a few papers to flip through. Incident report from the detective on the case, autopsies of the four victims, short statement from a neighbor...and that was it. It would probably be easier to take pictures of this, and it would arouse less suspicion if it was found missing. So he spread the pages out on the floor and took out his phone.

He managed to snap one picture when he heard the sound of a door opening. “Um...you aren’t supposed to do that.”

Stiffening, Schneep refused to turn around. God, he was stupid. There was a doorway connecting the records room to the evidence locker. He may have been out of sight from the main entrance, but not from that one. Slowly, he glanced over his shoulder.

“Hang on...don’t I know you?”

Oh, and just his luck. The person who’d entered the room was one of those two detectives. The ones who were working on Jackie’s disappearance and the case of the missing kids. What was her name? Oh yes, Detective Kikelomo. And it sounded like she recognized him.

Alright, time to throw the plan out the window. Schneep shoved the pages and folder into the briefcase, held it tight to his chest, and bolted.

“Hey!” Kikelomo called after him, quickly giving chase. Schneep didn’t look behind him. He was too busy pulling the scarf he was wearing over the lower half of his face. Hopefully she wouldn’t realize who he was if she didn’t get a second look.

He threw open the records room door and just kept running. “Stop him!” Kikelomo shouted, immediately drawing the attention of every single police officer in the station.

“Scheiße,” Schneep muttered, ducking under the nearest officer who tried to grab him. Speed was important here, not subtlety. Luckily, he’d thought to worn gloves. Very particular gloves, in fact. As another policeman grabbed his arm, he slapped the man’s shoulder with the electric pads of the gloves from his hero costume, shocking him enough to make him let go but not enough to do permanent harm. And any other officers who managed to grab him got the same treatment afterwards.

Up ahead, there were officers blocking the main entrance to the station. Okay, that made sense. But there was also a huge window in the lobby. Luckily, he was on the first floor.

Schneep threw the briefcase at the window, immediately shattering it moments before he jumped through. He landed rolling on the other side, then picked up the briefcase and started running.

———————

“This better have been worth it.” Later that night, the five of them met up at Marvin and JJ’s house, gathered in the front room. Schneep grumbled as he opened the briefcase and pulled out the green folder.

“What happened to your forehead?” Anti asked.

“Stray bit of glass,” Schneep explained vaguely, absentmindedly reaching up to touch the band-aid on his forehead.

What exactly happened? JJ wondered.

“Well, it is a long story,” Schneep said. “Suffice to say, they saw me, I had to run, and I ended up climbing up to the rooftops and hiding for a few hours.”

“A few hours?!” Jackie repeated.

“Is fine, I can deal with it. All they know now is that Von Voltage was in their records, they do not know that it was me.” Well, there was that detective, Kikelomo. She’d recognized him, though she might not have remembered from where. But he’d have to handle that on his own time. “This is more important.” Schneep spread the few pages from the folder out on the coffee table.

The others gathered around. “That’s it?” Anti asked skeptically.

“No, it makes sense,” Jackie said. “There’s the police report, the autopsies, and...that looks like a statement?”

“Exactly!” Schneep nodded, impressed. 

Still, there’s not a lot of information, JJ said. 

“Well, does it have the name?” Marvin asked. “The name of—of him, t’at man.”

“The father,” Anti said, picking up the appropriate autopsy. He quickly scanned the paper, then looked up, mouth open as if to say something...and then didn’t say anything. Frowning, he looked back to the paper. “He—he’s—” His brows drew close in confusion and frustration. “Fuck, I’m looking right at it! Why can’t I remember any of this information?!”

“Can I see?” Jackie asked. Anti passed him the paper, and he quickly scanned it. The same confusion soon clouded his features. “They have...they have all the spots for the right information. Height is...is...uh, weight is...h-hair color...” He slowly shook his head. “I’m trying to read it out loud, and I just...can’t.”

Schneep leaned over. “Oh...oh I see. The information is there, it just—isn’t...remember-able.”

Marvin and JJ quickly crowded around as well. That’s so strange, JJ said. Let me try to copy it down. He looked back and forth between the page and his paper, transcribing the information. Yet when he down at what he’d written, and was surprised to find only scribbles where the information should be.

“It’s as if...t’ere’s just some sort of...placeholder t’ere,” Marvin said slowly. “But it’s in our minds, not on the paper itself.” He paused. “But y’know what I can read? T’at note at the end.”

The bottom of the report was devoted to any notes the coroner might have. At the very end is written, Body suddenly disappeared the day after the initial autopsy. Report to the detectives.

“I’m guessing they never did anything about the missing body,” Anti said. “Because it’s walking around.”

Marvin shuddered at the thought, tightly holding onto his cane.

It’s as if this man, whoever he was, has been erased, Jameson said grimly. And just like erasing on paper, there’s only the vague remains of the pencil marks to tell us that, yes, something was there.

Jackie shook his head. “That’s...well, I guess it explains a lot about why Distorter is...the way he is.”

Schneep looked over at him. “What do you mean? You cannot actually be sympathizing with this—this creature! After what he did to you?!”

“No! Not at all,! I-I couldn’t—not a-after —I just mean—well, h-he’s always talking about having friends, right?” Jackie reasoned. “And...if you were all alone...Everyone who knew about you can’t remember you, like Stacy. Anyone who sees you can’t recall any details, and they forget what they do remember after enough time passes. Even official records can’t describe anything about you. It’s...it sounds terrible. No wonder he always says he’s lonely.”

Silence. Outside the window, it started to drizzle, droplets falling through the dark sky.

“It doesn’t change anything,” Anti finally said. “He’s still tried to kill us. He’s still—still done awful things.”

“I’m not denying that,” Jackie said, raising his hands.

“Was getting the file any help at all?” Schneep asked. “If it cannot remember details?”

“We can use it for somet’ing,” Marvin suggested. “It’s always good to know about the incident. What really happened. But we shoul’ prob’ly return it.”

“Here, give it to me, I’ll copy it when I get home,” Anti said, checking the time on his phone. “Speaking of which...I-I should get back. I don’t want to leave Will alone for long, even with a babysitter.”

“Oh, I should call Rama,” Jackie suddenly said. “And check on Michelle.”

Alright, sounds like we’ll have to discuss this more at a later time, JJ said. Anti, if you’re going to copy the file, make enough copies for all of us, then give it back to Volt to give back.

“Ah yes, I will have to...drop that off at their station or something,” Schneep mumbled.

The group dispersed for the night, promising to meet again. After all, there was still much to discuss. They’d found out a lot, but the answers just left them with more questions. The story would be harder to grasp than they initially thought.

[hongism]

hi caly boo its ur 🌊 anon! i finally finished the most brilliant darkness and oh my lawd i’m in spain without the s. to put it shortly: U DID NOT DISAPPOINT BESTIE, and it seems unreal that u and ur mind and this fic even exists bc every moment is just polished to perfection, while simultaneously every character is polished to a sort of imperfect perfection(?). i have so many questions and things to say idek where to start, and tho im not good with words and even worse at deciphering hidden meanings, here are just some of my thoughts that i remember from the story.

hello my dear!!! eee im gonna answer separately since i think i’ll be very long-winded as usual but first of all thank you so much :(( this fic is actually very full of subliminal messages and hidden nuances that are weaved throughout which i think could be quite confusing so i apologize for that! if i had managed my time better, i would have adjusted when i started the fic to account for managing those aspects of the fic but alas i’m terrible at time management and i suck so. anyways.

first of all, ngl halfway into the story i lowkey forgot this was a wooyoung fic bc SANNN and also bc wooyoung appeared like 3 times lol. even after it finishing all that, i still had my doubts as to why this is a wooyoung fic, or more like why is san this significant in a wooyoung fic. im still a bit slow on these pls forgive me and im just curious why u made it like that.

i think yeah the most interesting thing about this fic is the emphasis on san over wooyoung. and when looking over it yeah i could have switched san and wooyoung’s characters and called it a day, but wooyoung really in my mind acts as the integral turning point for decisions made in the story. 

the goal with the fic wasn’t really to be hyperfocused on the pairing itself, but rather the emotions and thought processes of each character (aside from wooyoung). wooyoung was kept intentionally mysterious and a bit set apart from the rest of the fic because his role in story was moreso an abstract of hestia, the goddess of the hearth and home. wooyoung’s character appeared in times where y/n was struggling with the thought of home or adjusting to the new changes in her life! wooyoung’s pairing itself was actually intended to be solely platonic at first, but as the story went on i thought having mc develop feelings for him added another turning point in the fic!

moving on, the second biggest question i had is the whole hestia!wooyoung and cafe aurora situation. i did a bit of reading on hestia and only found out that she was the goddess of hearth, which might explain the fireplace and the kind of homey feeling to the cafe. and ‘cafe aurora not really existing to most’ part, which was already hinted at wooyoung randomly disappearing, mc never seeing the cafe before or wooyoung only bringing people he wants into it. i get that him inviting mc must suggest her significance to him, but why was he so adamant about his friends not mentioning him or the cafe to mc before that? wooyoung is quite a mysterious character i think, and given that this fic is supposed to be about him, it’s a bit odd that there’s still so many things left unknown, but its kinda cool that way nonetheless and im guessing u would also like to explain that further outside of the story too.

i think my biggest regret about this fic is the fucking summary.... i wrote that summary well before i even started writing the fic thinking it would go in that direction but it didn’t. and since this fic was for a collab, i left the summary as is because i genuinely cannot for the life of me figure out a better one. but i’m trying to figure out a better one. but i really fucking hate the current summary because it’s not at all what the fic is truly about and i hate it.

however, i don’t hate the fic itself, and the reason why i don’t is because i got to play with both my writing style and how i displayed the story. for this collab we were asked to pick a greek god and one of the seven deadly sins, and i selected hestia and sloth. and initially i had intended to have sloth be represented by the reader’s depression, and wooyoung be a more ‘real’ depiction of hestia. i shifted gears very early on in the fic but what it became is moreso abstract realizations in the characters.

san’s character is meant to be this idea of sloth, and it’s mentioned several times that he doesn’t want to move forward, he wants to go slow, he wants to stop moving so fast through life, and those things point to him being a depiction of sloth

wooyoung’s was harder to encapsulate in a more abstract way but you hit the nail on the head really with the homey feeling of the cafe. beyond that, mc talks about just naturally feeling at ease and comfortable with how things are with wooyoung and being around him, and he takes up this role of being the likeable, warm, cozy, comforting character. it all comes to a head in the last scene where he brings both y/n and san into the cafe.

and again wooyoung’s character is meant to be most mysterious and abstract, but if i had had more time to fully flesh out the fic, i think i would have liked to touch more on him. at the same time however i left it more open-ended and open to interpretation. the significance in him inviting mc in and not being mentioned by the others sooner is twofold. one; the others never really had any reason whatsoever to mention wooyoung. he was a friend outside the circle who never joined in with them when mc was around. i personally in my own friendships don’t mention friends outside the circle by name or anything, just kinda vaguely talking about them unless im certain the people know who this person is. the concept of wooyoung having to invite mc in was more nuanced and vague as well, intentionally so, but that was moreso meant to represent this idea of ‘you can’t make a home somewhere where you aren’t invited’ so y/n couldn’t fully make a home of the place she was in without being invited in and welcomed in, but again that’s something i wish i had more time to fully flesh out.

the hongjoong speech about love (and also the interaction with seonghwa after that) deserves a standing ovation of its own 👏 unfortunately, or not, im not actually going through the emotional turmoil regarding love the same way as hj or mc to be able to fully relate to his words, but the whole ‘if you dont love what u see in the mirror then u dont love it’ mentality really hit me hard, and i’d like to hang onto that when i make decisions in the future haha thank you wise caly! seonghwa and hongjoong’s story is also beautiful, and just like mc said, the more i look at it the more it hurts :’)

the hongjoong speech about love was meant to be something very jaded and specific to his worldview. it actually isn’t wholly how i view love personally, but it was a perfect description to how both he and y/n perceived the love in their own lives. mostly thanks to their own emotional turmoils. the mentality of the mirror quote is something that i think i also struggle with, which is why i included it. it’s hard to do, but even in friendships, i think it’s necessarily to stop and look at the person you were before this relationship and then the person during this relationship. if you don’t love the one you are now, then maybe it’s a sign to reflect and see the bigger picture, so that was a lil reminder to myself and i’m glad it touched you as well!!!

“do you love him, or do you love the idea of being in love with him?” - haha i see what u did there (or maybe i didnt please dont laugh at me if i didnt). its still so good everytime i see it bc i keep finding myself loving just the idea of things time and time again even when this makes total sense to me oof :/

heh yeah again with the more abstract concepts this one was more direct and ‘cliche’ but i fully wanted that cliche in the fic because i thought it suited the situation where mc was constantly struggling with a version of san that she thought she loved vs the version of san she got every time they were together

despite how enlightened she seems to be, mc still made the same choices, and i wanna smack her for it and pat her back at the same time. and maybe also bc of the fact that she feels so differently for the two men that i feel like no ending could really justify her decision, so ending in the vague is probably the best. your ending might kind of allude to someone more than the other already, and tho i still don’t think he’s the best one for her based on just my pov on love, i kinda agree with you. but again, this raises the question of, why a wooyoung fic and not a san fic?

and yeah the whole knife in the chest at the end of it all is that she was still too scared to face the music so to speak. but really i would say she made the same choices up until the conversation on the balcony with san. and you’re absolutely right, the reason i chose the ending the way i did was because either way, there’s no justification. and actually although it might seems like i was alluding to someone specific, san being in the cafe at the very end was moreso to represent that as much as they fought, he still very much loved her and wanted to be loved by her. it was kinda an open casket ending there were no nails in the coffin, the choice between wooyoung and san still stands and an argument could be made for either of them! i think this is a fic that i could see myself revisiting one day with two endings - one for san, and one for wooyoung.

something i didn’t mention earlier about wooyoung’s character being left intentionally mysterious was that he was representing a new and budding love. the honeymoon phase where you’re falling for someone you don’t even really know. you are the reader aren’t meant to really know who wooyoung is because of that beyond what you read about him, so his past and such was left out intentionally to represent that idea of ‘hey wow im in love with a stranger!’ whereas san was this gritty love that’s bad for you. and there are pros and cons to each just as with anything!!

so,,,, why a wooyoung fic and not a san fic? well i picked wooyoung for my collab so he was one of the main focuses of the fic regardless of which direction i took with it. as for why wooyoung wasn’t more forward, i already answered that but !!! i view it as both a wooyoung fic and a san fic. both are highlighted characters with main pairing roles!

i literally just woke up to write this and am going back to sleep ahaha so i apologize if this makes no sense. i somehow felt like i’ve read so much yet so little at the same time, maybe bc there are still so many things i havent fully made sense of, and that’s where i hope you come in and enlighten me. i still stand by my word that this fic deserves so much more recognition despite the lack of explicit smut bc of how much more you’ve explored through character building. love you caly and thank u for working so hard <3 — 🌊

no worries my beloved i hope you go back to sleep and get lots and lots of rest!! and i hope my response helps enlighten the not so clear things as well dgjdklfg but really thank you so much. it was a long fic and hard to get through at times, but as a whole, i’m proud of it and what i created, so thank you for recognizing my efforts and appreciating them 🥺

[ghosty-schnibibit]

much earlier in the day than usual taz liveblog! ^o^

the only reason this is going up so early is i haven’t slept yet lmao, i fixed my sleep schedule for about a month and then went right back to being nocturnal.

i've spent the last four nights or so staying up til around ten in the morning binging the magnus archives (i'm about halfway through season three right now) and enjoying the hell out of it. for anyone who followed me bc of my taz liveblogs, rest assured i'm still going to be keeping up with graduation and taz in general :P

without further ado, here we go!

i fucking forgot about “thundermen”

awww, argo made friends with the kitty ^u^

snippers my sweet prince

"i think i take a great deal of delight in that" fitzroy you lil bastard man ilu

clint asking the important questions here lol

you've just described hell travis

did clint already forget the name of the school

jesus that's depressing argo

god i wish i'd had a gary during college to remind me of stuff

i vill tell you the story of melon

i love firbolg and argo so much, they are my favorite best of friends

aww firbolg ; _ ;

fitzroy i am suspicious of where your folks even are

yes fitz get your cloak back you silly boy

i love firbolg so much holy shit

i hope we get to see the boys hang out over spring break, that sounds like a fun episode

"that's good narrative!" travis ilu

oh god the capitalism owl is back

“i vill not do this thing” mood

justin's about to hit us with that sad shit i just know it

called it ; _ ;

... well damn that made me sadder than i expected

i'm still very suspicious about that dog

fitzroy you dumb little shit ilu

make sure higglemis isn't pulling a sazed lmao

you are being very paranoid fitz but that’s okay

"you don't curse well" he's a good sweet boy

jesus christ fitz maybe don't say this to the dude in charge of the school

fitzroy my sweet boy what is your deal, please tell us

... so fitzroy basically wants a venue to prove himself to be a good person that doesn't revolve around performance and artifice. he wants a way to gain power on his own merits without relying on status to boost him up, and felt knighthood was a better way to accomplish that than going to a school where he’s basically being trained to fit a specific role in life

i can see where higglemis is coming from with his worldview given that he's been forced to play second fiddle to his brother for so long

i have a sneaking suspicion that hieronymus thinks he can better manipulate or keep fitz under his thumb in the villian track

fitzroy you dumb himbo baby, my sweet stupid son who i love so much

well that was fucking tense as hell, jesus fuck

yes, on to my sweet boy

c r e e e e e p y

ilu jackyl

why would he want a pocket watch though?

i feel significantly better in argo's ability to do challenge this now that there aren't any life altering consequences

this is going well so far

argo this is such a dumb plan, you are smarter than this my boy

"i'm drawing a word picture" ilu clint

argo this is a dumb and bad plan and you need to roll for this!!!

clint my sweet son

yeah!!! that is how it works!!!

A R G O  W H A T  T H E  F U C K

i cannot fucking believe that worked holy shit

idk if it's just because the creepy voice is gone but i'm trusting jackyl more and more

ARGO WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING

take your caffe back to chicago 

he got a fuckin tattoo holy shit

what is this reference justin

argo is deeply committed and i love it

this whole bit has been so good

oh damn that was quick edit, holy shit, i didn't even realized we were going into the money zone

there we go, there's the regular intro, i missed it

yay! my favorite girl's birthday :D

awww, argo and firbolg being bestest buds is so wonderful

a knight's tale is the only one of those movies i've seen, please juice don’t dunk on me like this

i know i keep saying this over and over but i love their friendship so much, it warms my heart dearly

fitzroy my sweet boy, he cannot cuss for the life of him 

"as partners" y'all

i love them so much, my sweet loves

god this is cute as shit, i am sold, i am sailing away on the fitzrain ship

... argo were you about to give her the same thing???

argo where the fuck did you- oh okay, nevermind lol

oh firbolg my sweet son

oh my god this is the best holy shit

rainier is my sweet darling girl and i love her so much

i need art of this so bad this sounds so cute

argo why are you busking at your dear friend's birthday party

good god argo really is shaping up to be the magnus of this campaign in terms of rolling and bonuses

yay! festo is back :D

what was that noise travis

festo is going to dance with the wee crabby, i love this so

WHY IS THERE DUBSTEP NOW

i need this as a ringtone asap 

i am so bad with names, is buckminster the nice one or the malfoy one??? oh yay good he is the nice one

oh no, what happened to leon? D:

"he wouldn't leave me!" ... are they together?

gross griffin, gross

yes! show love to your sweet crab!

i love these sweet dumb friend boys

oh dang, so the blacksmith professor is in the group too??? interesting

not liking that emphasis on "when someone needs stopping," this is extremely interesting but i'm worried about the narrative implications of this, vís a vís argo being made to turn on his friends

this is so powerful, wow

i'm gonna cry but in a happy way ; u ;

oh snap this is already so cool, wow wow wow

how many teachers are in on this, dang

WAIT WHAT??? why do they want dirt on fitzroy?????

so higglemis was the one who controlled him???

"you may forget" WHAT IS GOING ON

OH FUCK, HIGGLEMIS WHAT ARE YOU UP TO? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SWEET LEON???

dang there was a lot of development this ep, plot and character-wise! i’m very worried for literally all three of my boys, but also very excited to see what travis has planned from here on out now that some conflict appears to be brewing!

see you guys next right thursday~ ^u^

[bigskydreaming]

LOL in all honesty though I’m way too amused by my own Jack Frost joke and its literally from a Bobby/Christian fanfic I wrote like, twelve years ago or something. It was right after Morrison introduced the idea of Christian in his run for purposes of Emma angst, and then they had that Emma solo, and I took that and ran with that fueled entirely by Rage and Spite, as I am wont to do. I now have no idea where said fanfic is, sadly. This was definitely way before Ao3. I think I only posted it on LJ, on an account where my friends list was like....entirely people from an entirely different fandom soooooo probably why that fic never really caught on. Whatever, I write fic more for myself anyway lmao.

It was pretty good though, think it would’ve held up well. The basic premise had to do with Dark Beast, the AU version of Hank from Age of Apocalypse. See, in the comics, when the few survivors of the Age of Apocalypse reality ended up in the 616 reality after it was destroyed, not all of them ended up in the present. Dark Beast, for example, ended up like twenty years in the past. And he didn’t have most of his memories, amnesia from trauma from the cross-dimensional travel or something. Which is when he met a then teenage Emma Frost, who’d just run away from home after everything that happened with her dad and Christian, and she ended up restoring Dark Beast’s memories with her telepathy, so they actually have history in the comics.

So I went with the idea of, okay what if you let Christian have agency in his trauma instead of giving it to Emma, who lbr, has PLENTY of story material on her own. So my premise was that it was Christian who ran away from home and ended up meeting Dark Beast and restoring his memories. And then Dark Beast, who has always been just as obsessed with creating the perfect mutant as Mr. Sinister is, if not more, because he’s like....equally obsessed with proving he’s better than Sinister....well instead of experimenting on the Morlocks, which is what he went on to do in the comics, he looks elsewhere. He never went after Scott or Jean, because he’s also a coward and Sinister scares him shitless, and DB knew damn well there was no such thing as a reality where Sinister hadn’t already called dibs on Scott and Jean’s genes. BUT, Dark Beast also knew from his own reality who all the other most powerful mutants would end up being....years before their powers even manifested in this reality. And since I’m me, of course I wrote it so that like, DB decided to focus on the other one of the 05 destined to grow up to be an omega mutant. 

And so he had Christian, who was young and easily manipulated because Love Me, I Need External Validation, My Last Name is Frost as In My Family’s Credo is What If We’re All Frosty All The Time....he had Christian use his telepathy to like, prompt Bobby into running away before the actual event that led to Xavier and Scott finding him and saving him and him joining the X-Men. Where Bobby of course ‘happened’ to bump into DB, who took him in along with his other young protege Christian, so he could like, secretly conduct experiments on Bobby blah blah you get it. 

But eventually Christian and Bobby fell in lurv and Christian was like what no, this is wrong, bad, not doing this anymore, so they run away together, and then it was basically just me writing them as a mutant Bonnie and Clyde who are gay and do crime together and say like, fuck all the adult mutants who try and manipulate them and other kids like them. Like Xavier, who eventually tried to get Bobby to join the X-Men and Bobby was like lol no, hard pass. Or the Hellfire Club, who eventually tried to recruit Christian except he was like lol no, hard pass. And then they were basically like this Chaotic Good power couple that just popped up here and there fucking shit up in a well-intentioned way that made half the X-Men grind their teeth and the other half snicker, and same with the Acolytes and other various groups. And there wasn’t really anything anyone could do about it because its canon that Bobby’s only real weakness is to psychics and having a world-class psychic as your boyfriend really kinda nips that weakness in the bud. Unless you come up against like, a cosmic-class psychic like Jean Grey, but lucky for them, she just thinks they’re adorable and tends to go whoops, missed them again every time they slip through the X-Men’s fingers.

And ultimately they decided their real mission in life was to rescue really young mutants whose powers manifested early and put them in danger, and make sure they get a chance to grow up without the various factions going ‘we’ll protect you, but only if you grow up to support our agenda and be One of us, shhhh, don’t fight it, just sign your life away on the dotted line, all the cool kids are doing it.’ And also me being me, and it being like 2004 ish? I think? Maybe 2005. Anyway. So my other preoccupation of the time was the Academy X kids so of course we’re talking like Julian and Josh and Cessily and the like, who were all like, adorable little ten year olds at this point in time, but also V. Beyond the Capacity of These Two Hapless Gays to Handle Without Help. Like, apparently omega powers and world-class telepathy do not actually qualify you to effectively parent a mob of young mutant menaces when you’re only 21-22 yourselves, who knew. So they ended up just showing up on the doorstep of one of Emma’s properties, mutant menace mob in tow, as she was the White Queen by now, and Christian greeting her facepalm moment with ‘Hey Ems, remember how you always wanted to be a teacher?’

And then there was this bit where Emma was something like “I’m a bit busy trying to take over the world, darling, try me again after my mid-life crisis.”

And Christian was all: “You can teach and take over the world at the same time, y’know, some of us are capable of this little thing called multi-tasking?”

And Bobby helpfully piped up: “I can pat my head and rub my stomach at the same time.”

Cue Emma’s wrinkled nose and accusing stare at her brother: “What on earth do you see in him?”

But Bobby just turned around and was like: “Umm, for starters, my ass is amazing. Have you not seen it? Here, touch it. Go ahead, you can squeeze it.”

Emma: .....

Christian, shrugging: “Well I mean, he’s not wrong.”

Emma: “If I agree to this idiotic plan of yours will you leave immediately and never come back?”

Bobby, stage whispering: “Tell her we still want holiday visits, so we can be the cool gay uncles who show up and spoil them rotten and thus they love us more than her. But don’t tell her that last part.”

Christian, dutifully: “We want to still come by for holidays so we can be the cool gay uncles who show up and spoil them rotten and thus they love us but no more than you, an equal amount only.”

Emma: “I’m standing right here you imbeciles.”

Bobby, still whispering: “Make sure that includes Easter. I’m pretty sure if I show up in a bunny costume I can make her head explode.”

Christian: “Just to be clear, that includes - “

Emma, a vein in her temple throbbing: “Just give me the children already.”

Bobby, gathering up the kids in a crowd around him, all noisy and giggling and clamoring for his attention: “Okay kids, so here’s the plan. From now on, you guys are gonna stay here in this big old house with Auntie Em!”

Emma, appalled: “Oh. My. God.”

Christian frowns: “Emma, please stop trying to fry my boyfriend’s brain. I’m not going to let you.”

And then the kids swarmed through the door past her into the hallway and there were the sounds of stuff breaking, distracting her for a bit before she like, glared at Bobby and was all: “This is all your doing!”

Bobby, hurt: “Only mostly! Chris and I are a team. A united front. It was a 60/40 split.”

Christian: “Well....”

Bobby: “Okay, 70/30.”

Christian: “You said you were going out to get some waffles to make breakfast in the morning and you came home with waffles, ice cream, and Julian on your shoulders.”

Bobby: “He followed me home!”

Christian: “That’s not how he tells it.”

Bobby, whirling on the ten year old Julian Keller who’s playing a Gameboy and looking entirely unconcerned: “You little traitor.”

Julian flipped him off.

Bobby, scandalized: “He did NOT learn that from me.”

Julian, still not looking up from his game: “Yes I did.”

And that was when Christian started dragging his boyfriend back to their car, before Bobby can get into an actual fight with a ten year old, yelling back over his shoulder at Emma: “Okay, great, thanks so much for doing this, let us know if you need us to bring anything when we come back in a few days with the second batch.”

Emma, distracted and trying to do a headcount: “Yes, fine, be gone already. ...Wait. What second batch? DRAAAAAAAKE!!”

But it was too late as the car is halfway to her big mansion gates by then, Bobby cackling: “Hey, we should totally get a dog. Like a little foofy one.”

Christian, knowing better than to ask but asking anyway: “And why is that?”

Bobby: “Bet you anything I can get her to say “I’ll get you and your little dog too!’”

Christian: “I’d appreciate it for both our sakes if you never do or say anything to suggest to my sister you’ve ever compared her to the Wicked Witch of the West. I mean, not that she’d protest on moral grounds, but she takes her color schemes very seriously. And you do know you don’t actually have to provoke her quite so much...”

Bobby: “Mmmm....agree to disagree. It’s the principle of the matter.”

Christian: “What principle? What matter?”

That was the gist of that scene anyway. Dialogue’s probably different, but you get it.

Ugh, I probably have the whole thing sitting in an old email account somewhere because that’s always been my main way of backing stuff up, is emailing it to myself. Problem is, I think I had a specific fandom email account back then and I don’t know what it is anymore lol. 

[comicteaparty]

December 17th-December 23rd, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from December 17th, 2018 to December 23rd, 2018.  The chat focused on Lovespells by Ryan & Sage.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Lovespells by Ryan & Sage~! (http://lovespellscomic.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PST), so keep checking back for more! You have until December 23rd to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 3. Do you believe that Esther will eventually confess her feelings to Maria? What do you think it will take for that to happen given Ether’s shyness about it?

QUESTION 4. Given some further hints, do you believe Maria’s own feelings towards Esther are changing? How do you think Maria would react to a confession from Esther? Would a confession ruin their friendship?

snuffysam

only at the end of chapter 4, but loving it so far! here's my current answers... 1. definitely the scene at the end of chapter 4 where Maria asks Esther for more lessons/to hang out as friends. We already know what Maria's there for ahead of time, and I eat dramatic irony like that for breakfast. Also, the reactions of Maria's friends who see Esther's obvious crush. 2. Hmmmm Maria. She's this super cheesy knight type, and that's me babey.

3. Yes, and it will be an accident.

4. Just from what I've seen so far, Maria's feelings towards Esther have changed. The relationship started out super professional from Maria's point of view (Esther is just helping her level up her magic. strictly teacher/student) but now she sees Esther as a friend. At this point... I don't think Maria would find a new tutor after the confession like Esther thinks, she's too professional for that. But it may put a dent in their friendship if the feelings aren't reciprocated.

decademic

omg, blitzed through it again because I love these slow burn lesbians and their wonderful relationship~ honestly couldn't ask for more! the art's amazing, the story is paced so well, the panels honestly are on par with paranatural levels of forethought and care, just ooo! I love them!!! onto the questions... 1: oh gosh, I can barely choose! the first meeting, when Maria shows up at Esther's house with her friends and they see how oblivious Maria is, the critical hit scene...throw a dart, I love it. 2: I'm gonna have to say Esther, she's so relatable by nature, and her actions are so pure intentioned. the love potion instead of elixer moment was such a cute nod, I got heart eyes and pledged my soul immediately. 3: I want Esther to start to confess, but Maria stops her and confesses instead! cue teary eyes and a first real kiss~ 4: Maria needs to identify this feeling as love; real love, before anything in the relationship can move forward at all. therefore, there has to be some realization on Maria's side sooner than later to make it work. Esther would probably chicken out halfway through the confession and confuse them both, which is why I'm gunning for Maria to do it~

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What do you think happened to Esther in the past that caused a healing spell to give her a permanent mana siphon? Do you believe Esther will reveal whatever happened to Maria? What might be the consequences of Esther telling her or keeping it secret?

decademic

gosh, good question...

so I guess 5: Esther hasn't been holding back, per se, about her affliction, she was upfront about it to the nurse, and has answered Maria's questions, so I don't think it's a 'secret', but more of a bit of backstory that may be a bit hard to relive. none of this answers the question of what the affliction is but I'm sure that'll be addressed, I'm sure of it

snuffysam

I don't think it's anything particularly sinister or mysterious, just, like... some uncommon disease. like magic polio.

though i suppose it either has to be something difficult to explain or something with a big stigma attached to it?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 6. Do you think we’ll see the paladin who scolded Maria at the tournament again? Why do you think he seemed particularly critical of Maria? What role might he have to play in Maria’s life (and Esther’s by association)?

RebelVampire

1) i really enjoyed the scene where maria was with her friends and referred to esther as lovely and all maria's friends are like O/////O. i enjoyed it not only for the significant character development maria is showing, but also the sheer comedy in how oblivious maria is to anything to do with love. 2) maria. i like her intense honesty that is balanced by her flawed obliviousness to a lot of the things around her. i think its a combination that makes her extremely endearing as a character. 3) i think the clock is ticking. esther is clearly terrible at hiding it and stuffing her feelings down. and i think one day maria is gonna be like "i love this thing" and esther is gonna be like "oh yeah i love that thing almost as much as i love you." like maybe not that exactly, but i dont think esther will overcome shyness. i think its gonna be a pure mortification accident moment cause esther will be lost in her own brain thoughts.

4) maria's feelings are definitely changing. no doubt about it. as for a reaction to esther's confession...honestly maria is so dense i wouldnt be surprised if she just could comprehend a love confession. gets told "i love you" and shes like "i love you too....youre a dear friend." once she realizes though, i kind of feel like shell...limbo turn down esther and tell esther shes not sure how she feels. then decide and couple will be created. as for ruining their friendship, eh, therell be tension maybe? not friendship ruining tho cause maria is just too nice for that. 5) I'm gonna assume that it was some sort of injury to be honest. cause esther did mention wanting to be an adventurer and i could see esther being overenthusiastic and trying something dangerous and winding up permanently injured because of it. or poisoned maybe. thats also an option. but regardless the curitive magic came with a price. i think esther will tell maria the full story someday, and i think it will bring her and maria closer. and consequently cause maria to get ultra defensive against those questioning esther's honor. 6) i do think we'll see that paladin again, and boy am i looking forward to it. i want to know more about him cause i think the dynamic hed have with maria would be awesome. i think as far as role goes, he might be the one to challenge how maria handles herself as a knight and her general love obliviousness. because maria's friends and esther all kind of either find it endearing, support her, or just accept that is part of her. whereas i think this paladin could be the one to ask her if she isnt hurting others by being so oblivious to love while constantly giving everything of herself. or something like that.

snuffysam

ok i'm caught up i'm not sure about the paladin. because yeah maria's friends aren't exactly helping move this relationship forward but... why would the paladin do any better? he just seems like a jerk to me.

maybe he shows up again and gives maria something extra to vent about to esther?

also, apparently his name is marcus? at least that's what the cast page seems to say, it's hard to tell without pictures lol

thisintermezzo

I co-write this comic and aklsjdkjhffjk it's so cool to see people actually seriously talk about it??? Thank you so much for this. We almost never get actual responses--which is pretty normal for most comics; feedback is just hard to get, haha--so this is super novel and hugely appreciated. If you want to ask me anything, please feel free. Otherwise, I'm just going to spectate here and there. (Also, now that I have Discord again, I can try to similarly contribute to chats about people's comics!!)

snuffysam

welcome! this is a really cute comic! if I may ask a question - what was originally on this page?: http://lovespellscomic.com/post/162477687227/hey-this-post-may-contain-adult-content-so-weve

it was after a bunch of guest comics so i'm guessing it was another guest comic? but tumblr deleted it so i have no idea

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Do you believe Esther’s magic tutelage of Maria will pay off at a critical juncture at some point? How might Esther’s own skills change due to contact with Maria? How might their changing relationship affect their professional lives?

thisintermezzo

I can't tell, haha. I actually don't know what the page before that is, even, since the "back" button is gone. Tumblr is lame and didn't notify us of any of the flagged posts, so I have no clue what else has gotten randomly deleted. :U Tapas would have it all, though.

Thanks for letting us know, though! o/

RebelVampire

QUESTION 8. Do you think Maria’s friends will play a role in Esther and Maria’s budding relationship? If so, what role will they play and how might their own relationships with Maria change?

(the archive for the chat on Psychteria is up! @CalimonGraal https://comicteaparty.com/post/181287718835/december-10th-december-16th-2018-ctp-archive)

RebelVampire

@snuffysam sometimes strangers are more helpful than friends in certain contexts. cause friends can come with a lot of biases. but eh it was just a thought

7) I def hope esther's magic tutelage pays off. Though not sure when since the tournament seemed like the most dangerous thing to happen so far. but if maria goes on a mission for sure shes gonna be pulling out that crit move esther taught her and save the day. albeit alternatively i could also seeing it going the opposite. wherein maria tries and fails hardcore. and then esther has to hug and comfort her and tell maria its okay. as for esther's skills, i actually think any change is gonna be less related to magic and more esther is gonna learn like how to express her feelings better or something. but this is something i dont forsee happening until they get together. 8) i dont think the friends are gonna help. rather, i think after maria and esther get together maybe that theyre gonna hurt the relationship in a way. in that theyll get jelly of maria spending more and more time with esther. cause while maria sees esther a lot, theres clearly more freetime maria has she could spend with esther instead of her friends. and i could see maria doing that cause as nice as maria is, shes extremely inexperienced in this area. so i think shed put esther first way too hardcore at first and the friends would have to say whoa there hold your horses. i think at the end itll strengthen their bonds though cause itd give maria a better understanding of some of the experiences her friends have maybe. idk. im spitballing.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. If Esther and Maria do date, how do you believe that will go? What relationship obstacles might the two have to overcome in order to make their relationship work? How will the change affect the course of the story?

Delphina

Oh noooo, cute magical girl AND lawful good swordy girl having adorable crushes on each other. I might have to jump into this one.

1. My anime roots are showing, but I love a good "you don't have to refer to me with honorifics" scene. Also any time Maria carries sleepy Esther around is adorable.

2. Maria's hard not to like. I'm also a sucker for strong intense ladies who wanna do the right thing always.

I'm not so great with the speculation-type questions, but it's a great comic and I'm looking forward to what happens and hope that things go smoothly in both the romantic and magical arenas! The writing is very sweet and pure and the character designs and great environments complement them nicely. Really can tell there's a lot of love in this story!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 10. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

Delphina

I really enjoyed the part where Esther was explaining her sketches about adventuring to Maria. Esther has mostly been a reactive character - she gets orders and reacts, she's asked for help by Maria and she reacts, she sees some kids in trouble and she reacts, she gets low on MP and reacts. But that was the first time we saw what she wanted for herself, and how she views her role, and it really helped make her feel real and more proactive. I hope we see more of what Esther wants and who she is in the future!

RebelVampire

9) I think they'll have to deal with the usual relationship challenges. balancing work life, balancing other friendships, accepting that maybe they dont know each other as well as they think they might. but i think theyll manage. esther especially i think is gonna have to learn to be more open like how she was about her desire to be an adventurer. 10) I'm looking forward to seeing paladin returning and revealing why he's in this story in the first place and butting heads with maria. and then esther being "it's okay baby hes just a big ol' meanie"

snuffysam

i just really want to see more of the comic. it's super cute, the characters all lovable... i need more.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Lovespells this week! Please also give a special thank you to Ryan & Sage for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Lovespells, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://lovespellscomic.com/

Ryan & Sage’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lovespells

Ryan & Sage’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/lovespells

Lovespells’ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lovespellscomic

[stalepotato-blog]

if anybody is actually taking time out of their day to read this stupid blog, let me save you some time.

just stop.     close the tab.    and go on youtube or something.

no but for real tho. just stop and turn around. 

there is nothing interesting on here for you to see. im just writing to myself cause im a loser and im trying to keep a journal of my thoughts on a day to day basis...at least i hope.

my friend told me to start the journal cause she said that it would help me deal with my life and just vent. also i feel like i can sort my feelings out better when i talk about myself.....soooooo yeah. i guess lets start with my past.

im currently 18 years old, im just not going to put my name on here cause what the heck is the point its to myself. but anyway im 18 years old. im korean. i was born in korea but my family and i moved to the states before i was even 1 so i consider myself pretty american....then again i hate the sound of american so i like to call myself korean even though i hate korean culture...you’ll see why later. i grew up in a pretty conservative household..i think? just think of any stereotypical asian household and that would be my own household. its was the usual...no girls, no drugs, no alcohol. i also went to church pretty often and considered myself pretty devout, so i didnt care too much about that stuff anyway.......except for girls. i was horny.

i spent most of my life growing up in southern california about 30 minutes from LA. it was pretty chill. i lived in the suburbs of a pretty safe neighborhood, the cops were so bored all he time that dealing with a car crash probably got them off. i went to elementary school, middle school, and high school all within a 5 mile radius of my house. which was convenient but there was nothing to do besides go to school...and go eat. which i did a lot. which is why im fat. oh. i forgot to describe my appearance. im a guy. 5′ 4′’. chubs. really small eyes. black hair. used to think i had broad shoulders but then one of my friends told me that im playing myself. so i stopped thinking that. 

damn i have hiccups, 

anyway where was I? oh yeah school. uhhhhhh school was alright. was a little rough at first..little kids can be mean lol but i go over it very quickly. i used middle school to try to change myself completely. i stopped crying. i lost some weight. i liked to play basketball and run so i did that a lot with my best friend. oh yeah my best friend. uhhh i met my first really close friend in elementary school. i was tired of kids making fun of me in elementary so put that anger out onto other people... aka my best friend. i bullied him and made fun of his buzz lightyear sweater he liked to wear by pretending that i was buzz lightyear in class. yeah i was a dick i know, but i was in like 5th grade, chill. he is basically everything physically that i am not. he was real lean. athletic and strong but it didnt show too much cause he was thin. oh and he was really tall. think he was like 5′ 8′’ by the end of elementary. he got back at me by making fun of my weight and height, so i consider us pretty even. i dont remember if we ever apologized to each other exactly but we probably did. we’re good now. although we still make fun of each other. its funny. 13 years later, we’re still friends.

at around around the same time i met m other best friend, ahhhh, not sure so much about best anymore but shes close to me and i care about her. i met her in elementary school, but we didnt really talk then, later i found out that she was actually sexist in elementary school and she didnt hang around guys cause well. she hated them? i forget the reason why, she just disliked them. but in middle school she walked every day home with me and my best bud. our houses were pretty close to each other so we it was nice to walk together. at first she avoided us too, but then she started hanging with us two and that was the first time she really talked to guys and had fun so she stuck around. but thats not the only thing. i dont know how to describe her, but she really isnt your normal type of girl. she very quirky. reallllllly short like 4′ 6′’ or something like that, she had really long hair, which i thought was cute..until she chopped it off like halfway through middle school. but at the end of the day. this girl was weird. for example. my and me best bud first noticed that she also walked home a few days into the semester, but when we saw her, she was stealing one of those flowers next to like plaza signs to make them look better? you know what im talking about? my bud and i were walking up to her and she was staring at the flower and she tried to take only one flower but ended up uprooting the whole damn thing. by this time my friend and i had caught up to her and we were just staring at her without saying a word. then this girl breaks the silence by looking at my bud an saying ‘hey. cut this bottle for me yeah?’ then she flashed us a smile and proceeded to pull a 2 liter bottle out of her backpack along with a pair of kitchen scissors out of her backpack....lets just stop there. what. the. heck? i mean like am i weird for thinking thats weird? that pretty weird....anyway she hands off the bottle to my friend and the scissors. and he just looks at me and says okay and cut the bottle in half. she placed the plant into the bottle and then started walking with us. and from tha point on she just kept walking home with us. now as usual, since we were all teens, with the whole puberty and emotions thing going on and also of the opposite gender we eventually liked each other... but in more like of a weird third wheel...ahhh... i dont even want to call it third wheel. it felt like a bicycle or like a motorcycle with one of those side car thingys........... ..... .... its complicated. in case you were wondering i was the extra part.. the extra wheel so to speak. but thatttttttttttttttttttt is a story for another time. maybe my next post. i feel like this post was a bit long but its my first one so what the hell. guesss this is the end..buhbai.

oh and on a side note. what i said earlier on the whole because we of the opposite gender so we started liking each other thing. dont give me any crap about how thats inconsiderate towards gay people and all that. i dont have anything against gay people, but im just trying to describe my own experience of my past without adding politically correct crap and all that social justice comments. i can live without others judging me on my own blog. 

then again. who the hell is going to actually read this.